07/11/1984 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Wooten, that the bill be e approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; all councilors present voting aye, the bill was declared passed (and became Ordinance No. 19265). VII. BALLOT MEASURE NO. 2--CONSTITUTIONAL REAL PROPERTY TAX LIMITATION (memo distributed) City Manager Michea1 Gleason introduced the agenda item. Finance Director Warren Wong presented the staff report, briefly reviewing his June 21, 1984, memorandum to the City Council which summarized the content of the proposed property tax limitation measure and the current steps being taken by the City to determine the possible impact of the measure. He said the preciseness of the estimated $11 to $17 million loss in current property tax revenue would be refined after the receipt of the State Attorney General's opinion on the ballot measure. He stated that a staff task force, headed by Susy Wagner of Risk Management and including representatives from the City Manager's Office, Personnel, Intergovernmental Relations, and the three major employee bargaining units, will be preparing a work plan for implementation of the ballot measure if passed and a public information program for staff, the council, and the general public. He explained that all financial decisions will be processed through the Budget Review Team to the City Manager and executive staff. He said a report addressing the fiscal and service implications of the ballot measure will be presented to the Budget Committee on September 11, 1984. e Councilor Obie said he was concerned with the pOSSible impact of the proposed ballot measure on the community. He stated that the community had strongly rejected a similar measure in the past. He asked whether the proposed measure met all legal requirements for placement on the November ballot and whether the use of paid individuals to solicit petition signatures was allowed under an interpretation by the State Attorney General or by a court order. City Attorney Tim Sercombe responded that a Federal Court had ruled that the prohi- bition against paid petition circulators was unconstitutional, resulting in subsequent changes to the Secretary of State regulations regarding that issue. In response to the question regarding the legal sufficiency of the proposed measure, Mr. Sercombe stated that his office had not received any data on whether the signature verification process was warranted; however, he said a significant legal issue existed in that the measure included two separate measures--the Social Security aspect and the property tax limitation. In response to another question by Councilor Obie, Mr. Sercombe stated that either the Finance or City Attorney's Office could determine the breakdown of petition signers by county, but he was unsure whether the signature verifica- tion process would include that information. He said his office had been monitoring the dual measure issue since the petition was first circulated. He said staff was trying to determine what type of advocacy positions were being taken by the proponents of the two measures, explaining that the State Consti- tution prOhibited two different measures being part of one measure to be voted on by the people. He stated that this issue was being investigated by the State Attorney General's Office and the teacher's union. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 11, 1984 Page 5