01/10/1979 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e School District 4-J having 70 percent tax aS$essment value within the city of Eugene; thus, the SOT would be reduced by 70 percent for the School District within the city. The exemptions could be beneficial also in encouraging State or Federal developments, perhaps in the downtown area. Regarding City-supported private developments, Manager said the amount of reduction would be equal to the amount of City financial support, up to a maximum of full exemption of the SDT. The City's financial support could be provided in a number of ways, including direct tax contribution, alloca- tion of grants from other agencies, land subsidy, etc. He noted this would affect such things as the Civic Center Project, hotel develop-ment, and urban renewal in the downtown area. It was felt levying the full SOT would be counter-prOductive because additional subsidies would then be needed. For small residential and commercial developments, staff was recommending small developments of $5,000 or less valuation be exempted from the SOT. A table showed the number of permits and tax revenue generated by develop- ments of $20,000 or less. Permits of $5,000 or less represented 27.4 percent of the permits, but produced only .9 percent of the revenue. The average tax collected per permit was less than $10, and the total annual revenue would be less than $10,000. He said the administrative cost was estimated at $30 for each permit, and was thus very counter-productive. Revenue for $5,000-$10,000 category was estimated at $49 for residential and $37 for commercial. Comparable estimates for $10-$20,000 category were $81 for residential and $29 for commercial. Thus, these categories appear to be more self-sustaining than $5,000 and under. - For existing gravel parking lot areas, staff was still recommending exemption of unpaved parking areas that existed before April 10, 1978, when the STD was approved. It was hoped this would encourage paving of the lots and thus improve air quality and reduce gravel tracking onto public sidewalks and streets. Mr. Delay suggested Council take the various recommendations in order. He said for the first one of exempting local agencies, there seemed to be two alternatives: Simply exempt all local governments with exemp- tions to other governmental agencies as needed; or allow exemptions as outlined in the alternatives listed in the memorandum (some local govern- ment agencies being exempt on the percentage basis). He felt the question concerned whether or not administrative costs in applying the formula outweighed the benefits. Manager said he did not think the admini- strative costs of applying the percentage formula would be that diffi- cult. Don Gilman, Assistant Director of Public Works, said he agreed the administration of the formula would not be that difficult. He said this alternative had been presented as a result of Council's previous concerns. Manager noted the question had been raised by Council as to whether the City was giving segments of unincorporated areas a "free ride" if total exemptions from the SOT were given, such as to Lane County. Mr. Haws felt if a percentage formula were used, that particular agency (i.e., School District 4-J) would levy the tax on all persons inside e 1/10/79--9 19