CC Minutes - 01/29/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Nathanson also wanted to ensure that the City's contribution to the Human Services Fund was not further reduced. Ms. Nathanson noted that she had committed herself to supporting efforts related to increased use of the earned income tax credit, which was an effective way to bring money into the community to those who needed it. She said that Eugene's economy was not isolated from the remainder of the region and she did not want to isolate it additionally. Mayor Torrey said he asked several of the State legislators indicating support for the ordinance if they would introduce similar legislation at the State level. He noted that there were no such bills pending in the State legislature. Mayor Torrey said the motion should be defeated and the money that it would require to implement be "placed on the table" for allocation by the Budget Committee to human services. Ms. Bettman believed that the issue was one of whether the City would provide more incentives and tax breaks to the rich and big business, or whether it would focus some of its economic development strategies on the working poor. She suggested the living wage would reduce turnover, saving the City money, because those who were well-paid tended to stay on. It would mean that employees hired through TempSource would receive a pay increase. Ms. Bettman said that in terms of funding social services instead, she said that the Budget Committee had cut the City's funding for human services on the "pretext" that the City paid more per capita than the other jurisdictions. She did not see the Budget Committee dealing with the issue. She suggested that if people were paid the money they needed to live, they would not need social services. Ms. Taylor envisioned a working mother who worked all day for a wage she could not live on; then she must find a way and time to go to a social service agency to beg for help, which she termed humiliating and time-consuming. If she got paid enough to live on, the mother could stay at home with her children at night and perhaps help someone else. The motion failed, 4:3; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Bettman, and Ms. Taylor voting yes. Mr. Kelly noted that the costs of the phased implementation of the living wage as envisioned in his motion would be about $200,000 - $300,000 in Year 1; he proposed to reduce that amount to $100,000, and reflect the council's discussion on the failed motion by directing the manager to develop poverty-reduction strategies. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to direct the City Manager include $100,000 in the base fiscal year 2004 budget of new funds for poverty-reduction strategies. Mr. Kelly indicated that the motion was phrased generally because he did not want the council to have a debate now as to what approaches were preferable. He wanted to include the amount in the base budget to ensure that it was as much an assumption as other basic City services. Mr. Kelly accepted a friendly amendment from Ms. Bettman to increase the amount to $175,000. Mr. Meisner opposed the motion. He pointed out that the budget forecast did not indicate any money was available at all for added services; instead, significant reductions were being contemplated. Speaking to the comments of Ms. Bettman, Mr. Meisner said that while the City's contribution to the Human Services Fund had been slightly reduced, that was because the City was picking up more in other social service costs. The $69,000 proposed for reduction over MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 29, 2003 Page 9 Work Session