06/03/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Mr. Hansen preferred some form of income tax to a payroll tax. Ms. Schue agreed this would be the best financing method. She added it would be neces- sary to draw up a plan for half the proposed revenue amount if voters did not want to give the whole amount. Ms. Bascom and Ms. Wooten supported a City income tax on adjusted gross income. Ms. Wooten asked for information on the possibility of exempting the first $7500 of income. She said there should also be discussion of a phased percentage increase in the tax rate. No tax could be levied without first discussing the issue with Springfield and Lane County officials. Mr. Rutan said his criterion was simplicity. He favored a one-percent per- sonal income tax without the modifications proposed by Ms. Wooten. The first question was whether a tax would be palatable to the public; after this was known, then ways could be found to make the tax as fair as possible. Mr. Hansen preferred a payroll tax since this would affect the people who work in the community but live outside of it. An income tax would have to include the people of Springfield and Lane County, since they use our facilities. Ms. Ehrman supported the personal income tax on the AGI. She thought a corpo- rate tax should be included. Also, an airport user fee would include people who use City facilities but live elsewhere. Ms. Schue thought this proposal was a good idea. She favored the income tax over the payroll tax. Mr. Glea- son pointed out that the income tax would indeed tax non-residents, as well. He said residents of Vancouver, B.C., who work in Portland, pay Oregon state income tax. Mr. Holmer said he would have problems with a $7500 income exemption. Mr. Miller supported a one-percent income tax on AGI with a shelter for low- income people. He asked what impact the recently passed State gas tax of one cent per gallon would have on transportation projects. Mr. Wong answered that it produced $525,000 per year dedicated to street and road improvements. Mayor Obie proposed asking Lane County and Springfield to impose 20t per $100 of property tax for airport improvements. If a countywide ballot measure to this effect passed, it would produce an annual revenue stream of $1.3 mil- lion. He favored a personal income tax for both individuals and businesses, but not on the AGI. Shelters for low-income people and for small businesses should be further discussed by the City Council. He considered it necessary to tax businesses for the sake of neutrality. The councilors discussed the pro's and con's of taxing corporations. Mr. Rutan said he was not comfortable with this proposal. Mr. Holmer said such businesses pay taxes anyway, and they could always respond to a tax by raising the price of goods. Ms. Wooten supported the idea of a business tax in the interest of fairness. She proposed taking both variations--a personal tax alone, or a personal plus corporate tax--to public hearings for comment. She stressed the need to hone the costs of projects as much as possible with- out shortchanging the City. Mr. Hansen wanted more information on how to apply the income tax beyond the city limits. MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session June 3, 1985 Page 6