09/28/1983 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Schue, underlining the comments of Ms. Wooten and Mr. Lindberg, said e that providing a gift to the people on a special occasion would not preclude the council from denying the same action for a future event. She said that the suspension of fees was worth a try to market City facilities that were not currently generating as much revenue as expected. Mayor Keller said that if the experiment did not work, the council could change its decision next year. He encouraged the council to support the suspension of the parking fees. Roll call vote; the motion carried 6:1; with Mr. Holmer, Ms. Wooten, Ms. Schue, Mr. Ball, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Lindberg voting aye; Mr. Hansen voting nay. IX. REPORT ON 1983 REGULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSION (memo, background information distributed) Mr. Gleason introduced the agenda item. Jody Miller, the Director of Intergov- ernmental Relations, presented the staff report. Ms. Miller stated that the results of the 1983 Regular Session were generally positive for Eugene and for other cities, notwithstanding the status of the Property Tax Relief issue. She said the success rate of the priority bills with a favorable or acceptable result had increased from 85 to 94 percent over the last session. She explained that the staff had focused on stopping bad bills and had focused on fewer bills due to reduced sta ffi ng. She said that staff had worked toward a policy review of bills, although the bill-by-bill review had been continued. She said e that policies were introduced to establish staff positions on specific issues. She said that a part-time contract lobbyist was used in Salem rather than basing a City staff person there. Ms. Miller said that staff had continued to work with the League of Oregon Cities, Portland, and Salem. She said that the subcommittee process was also continued, as well as the rating system. She referred to the summary of the bills rated "1" and "2" in the material distri- buted to the council. She said the two priority issues were the finance and taxation issue and economic development. She said the main issue of finance and property tax relief remained unsettled and, as of September 27, 1983, a new plan was discussed which included a four percent sales tax, a constitutional spending limit, a statutory freeze on property tax rates and assessments, and the referral of the package to the local governments for ratification. She said the Oregon Education Association also had a plan which included a sales tax referral, as well as a proposal that schools would have their previous year's budget guaranteed if voters failed to approve a 1 evy. She said the losses in other financial areas were few, and numerous costly bills were stopped. She said that gains were experienced in the gas tax, truck weight mile tax, and motor vehicle licensing. She said that 12.17 percent of this increase would be returned to the cities. Councilors Holmer and Hansen left the meeting at this time. - Ms. Miller said the most notable of the losses was a Court Victim1s Assistance bill which passed and will cost the City approximately $20,000 per year. She MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1983 Page 10