08/12/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Bascom requested inform tion examining the possibil ity of a gas tax to e finance transportation projects, and Ms. Wooten requested a package examining alternatives to the income tax, such as putting the airport on a serial levy, withdrawing the Riverfront Project as self-financing, and re-examining options for the downtown project. Mr. Wong said a draft of a gas tax had been pre- pared last sumner. Ms. Wooten added that the 1 ibrary and the pool still were important to her, and she said she thought they would have to be financed either through community development block grant funds or through special bond mea sure son the ba 11 0 t. Mr. Whitlow said the council should let staff know as soon as possible if they intend to pursue other revenue sources, as it woul d require a lot of work before the deadl ine for ballot measures. Responding to Ms. Wootenls question, Mr. Wong said a 3 cent per gallon gas tax would yield about $1.5 million inside the city limits. Mr. Hol mer sa i d one person a t the meetings had pointed out how sna 11 the income tax alOOunt was and had suggested that no exemptions were needed. Mr. Wong sa i d the packet conta ined five scenarios of low-income credi ts or exemptions. He said exemptions would leave a portion of income untaxed, while credits would entail refunds of the tax liability owed. Mr. Wong said a separate credit form would be used for the city tax, and the instruction book- let woul d come out of City administra tive costs. He reviewed the various options and their losses, and he noted that the exemptions would involve a e discontinuity at the breaking point, meaning that the entire tax would be charged if the income amount is one dollar over the limit, and he said that was the reason for the sequential credits on the first two pages. Mr. Obie suggested getting the infornation to Mr. Miller. Mr. Holmer noted that the exemptions would benefit the high-income earner more drastically than the low-income earner. Responding to Mr. Obie IS question about regional funding of the airport, Mr. Wong sa i d about 38 percent of the income earned in Eugene wa s by non- resi dents. Ms. Ehrman said she had heard figures stating that about 40 per- cent of the airport business was from people outside of Eugene. Mr. Obie asked about financing capital projects by maintaining a fixed debt service levy. Mr. Wong distributed those analyses. Mr. Wong said about hal f of the outstanding debt would be paid off in the next five years, and he said r.t>ody's had expressed concern that Eugene was not issuing more debt. He said if the existing rate per thousand in debt service is mintained at $1.30/1,000, two scenarios were possible. Under version A, assuming no growth in assessed value, it would be 1996 before sufficient debt service would accrue annually to service the $10 million in airport bonds. Under version B, assuming annual growth of 5 percent, the amount probably would be realized by 1991 . Mr. Obie voiced the conclusion that that would not be a viable option because it was too far in the future. e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Session August 12, 1985 Page 6