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e Ms. Smith said the task force had looked at several sources of additonal revenue, including a gas tax; however, it was felt that gas tax funds should be used directly for improvements of streets and roads. She said the task force also hoped for revenue from the increased cigarette tax. However, the State Legislature had decided that money would go for property tax relief. She said there were also some members of the task force who favored placing a tax on the rooms rented by the University during the summer. Ms. Smith said the University was supportive of contributing to the City's cultural fund, but it might not be supportive of doing so in the form of a room tax. Ms. Smith outlined the alternatives recommended by the task force. The first was a tax on amusement devices, such as pinball machines and video games, because the Federal tax on those devices would end soon. She said the current $250-per-unit tax would therefore not be an increase for the affected companies but merely a revenue transfer from Federal to City government. She said this revenue source would generate over $100,000 annually. She said all the proposals had been reviewed and cleared by the City's finance and legal departments. Ms. Smith said the second alternative was a patron user fee on tickets sold at the Performing Arts Center. She said the proposed fee would be 25 cents per ticket and in this way those using the facility would help pay for its upkeep and maintenance. Mr. Obie asked what the average ticket price would be. Mr. Gleason said that figure was not known, only an estimate of the number of tickets which would be sold, and at 25 cents a ticket the annual revenue generat- ed would be over $100,000. He said ticket prices would vary considerably, depending on the type of event. e Ms. Smith said the third alternative was a gross restaurant revenue tax excluding liquor sales. She said the tax recommended would be one-half of one percent and it was estimated to generate $300,000 annually. Ms. Smith said the total annual revenues from the current room tax and the proposed additional sources would be around $800,000. She said this amount would not completely meet all the needs. She said the Eugene Arts Foundation was in the midst of its campaign and had obligated some of its funds for opera- tion of the Performing Arts Center as well as for subsidizing some programs of local groups at the center. Ms. Smith said there had been some preliminary discussion on assembling a cultural plan for the City. Ms. Wooten said-the proposed cultural plan would coordinate those cultural activities funded by public dollars and establish priorities for funding. She said as a member of the Room Tax Task Force she had several concerns. She said it would be unfortunate to depend too heavily upon the Eugene Arts Foundation for a major share of the funding of local groups. She said revenues from private donors as well as from taxes would fluctuate with the economy. Regarding the proposed restaurant gross revenue tax, Ms. Smith said part of it would go for increased funding and an accelerated program for the Convention Bureau which would directly benefit restaurants. Ms. Wooten said the motel/hotel e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 13, 1981 Page 2