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library services than the taxing implications and sustainability of a new service district. He shared Ms. Nathanson's concerns about the possible degradation of City services. Mr. Meisner shared Ms. Bettman's desire for information on the costs of a new service district and the potential benefit to residents. He also called for accurate demographic figures. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Pap8 that if the council was to look at regional issues, it should examine the services he had enumerated in that order, as well as parks and recreation services and the library. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to extend time for the item until 6:50 p.m. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Regarding the potential of a fire or parks and recreation service district, Mr. Kelly said he could not imagine delivering those services through a special district unless there was an interjurisdictional operational reason for doing so, such as the two cities merging their operations. He preferred to focus on the library service district issue at this time because of the many unserved residents in the metropolitan area. Speaking to the concerns expressed by Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Meisner regarding the potential degradation of services, Mr. Kelly noted that the work plan assumed the district would have a tax rate adequate to fund the current level of City library services. Mr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Carlson it was better that the City work on the details of a special district rather than the league. Mr. Kelly said he was interested in further discussion of delivering airport services through a special district, but pointed out that the airport did not rely on General Fund money while the library relied completely on General Fund or levy money. Ms. Bettman said that the fact special districts take precedence in the compression formula over local option levies was a concern to her. She could envision a situation where a special district eroded the collection of levies that the council had not even anticipated at this time. Ms. Bettman agreed with Mr. Pap8 and Mr. Meisner's suggested prioritization in terms of future district discussions. Ms. Bettman did not see a way to make a special library district equitable to Eugene taxpayers given the investment they had already made in library services. She concurred with the basic premise of the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan that such services should be provided by cities rather than special districts, believing that the district approach removed decision-making and accountability from the public and diluted the democratic process. Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to direct staff to make further investigation, as outlined in Attachment A, and to report back to the council on issues relating to provision of library services under a library district. City Manager Taylor questioned whether the council would consider the special district option in the absence of Oregon's property tax limitations. He believed more considerable discussion MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 27, 2003 Page 9 Work Session