04/22/1992 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e The meeting recessed at 6:55 p.m. and resumed at 7:05 p.m. Mr. MacDonald left the meeting during the recess. Mr. O'Connor said that staff had split the balance of Strategy Package B into base services ($S,676,000) and enhancements ($8,979,000). Responding to a question from Mr. Rutan, Mr. O'Connor said that public safety enhancements were about $4.5 million of the total; the proposed library was $2.4 million. The council agreed to a suggestion by Mr. Nicholson to tie public safety enhancements and the new library to dedicated revenues. Ms. Ehrman proposed to fund base increases in Strategy Package B through a combination of corporate and personal income taxes and a two-cent gas tax increase. She suggested that the personal income tax rate for Package B be 2/10ths of one percent. The council accepted Ms. Ehrman's proposal. Mr. Boles asked the council to consider a five-percent restaurant tax to fund and operate the library and perhaps provide an offset for Hult Center funding, moving center funding outside the General Fund. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Boles pointed out that the council could pass a restaurant tax without a vote. A straw poll gauging support for Mr. Boles' suggestion failed. Mr. Miller asked the council to consider financing the Public Safety Long-Range Plan and fire redeployment with a $1 increase in the property tax. He suggested that any additional revenues could be used for library operations. The council briefly discussed the implications of an increase in property taxes on Eugene rates. Mr. Nicholson pointed out that, were a County levy to pass, an increase in the Eugene property tax rate would not result in an increase in taxes but in redistribution of taxes between the County and City. Ms. Ehrman suggested that such an argument might be too complex to offer the public. Mr. Mounts said if both the City and County competed for the additional margin, the City would realize about 85 cents of the dollar from Eugene taxpayers as compared to 15 cents for the County. Mr. Boles and Ms. Ehrman indicated their opposition to an increase in property taxes. Mr. Rutan suggested that the council consider a means to expand the yield from those revenue sources already included in the strategy package rather than ask the citizens to consider a multitude of revenue sources. Mr. Nicholson said that a major issue regarding property taxes was whether the City was going to continue to capture its traditional proportion of property taxes or cede those taxes to the County. Mr. Miller agreed. He MINUTES--Eugene City Council 5:30 p.m. April 22, 1992 Page 5