CC Minutes - 06/13/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Muir provided an update on Ballot Measure 37 claims. She said that the City of Eugene had not received a claim. Approximately 500 claims had been filed against the State Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). She said it was likely that another 500 claims had been filed across the state against local governments. She said the State had requested 17 staff and more than $1 million in additional revenue to administer its Ballot Measure 37 claim program, noting that the claims against the State totaled a request for $1.1 billion worth of compensation. She said that DLCD had issued 18 orders to date and 75 percent were waivers; the remaining claims were denied for incomplete applica- tions. She said the only other community considering an effort similar to Eugene's was Lake Oswego, which had set aside $1 million to pay potential Ballot Measure 37 claims. City Attorney Glenn Klein reported that the House Land Use Committee was holding work sessions on a bill to address Ballot Measure 37 issues. He listed a number of provisions of the bill and noted that there was no funding mechanism, although there might be a separate compensation bill that would be limited to recapture of the back taxes on farm or forest use deferred taxes. He said that the last version of the compensation bill would divide compensation funds among local jurisdictions in the same proportion as current taxes were, with the funds to be used for Ballot Measure 37 claims. He said at this point it was uncertain whether any Ballot Measure 37 bill would emerge from the current legislative session. Referring to the agenda item, he said that the council had the charter authority to pursue creation of a tax or charge on increases in value related to government action, such as a rezone, in order to fund Ballot Measure 37 claims. He said that constraints on the council's actions related to Balllot Measure 5. Mr. Poling called for council questions and comments. Ms. Bettman said the issue for the City was how to draft any future land use regulation without creating a Ballot Measure 37 liability. She said she was looking for a vehicle to create a balance so that the City could avoid waiving or deferring regulations and retain the ability to protect resources, while being able to compensate property owners for a decrease in value. She pointed out that the funding mechanism being discussed was not a tax on development or making a profit on property, but rather a recapture of some of the value that the City or any government bestowed on a property owner when an action increased the value of the property. She asked staff to provide a definitive list of those situations where changes in value would be attributable to the actions of the City of Eugene, such as a rezone, change of use, change in the code to redefine permissible use, removal or waiver of a regulation or conditional use permit. Mr. Pap6 asked if the City could discriminate in the application of a tax or charge in an instance where an action in a particular zone would increase value but a property owner's use did not change and was not likely to change. Mr. Klein said that the City could differentiate when or how the charge was applied with the constraint of the equal protection clause that required similarly situated people to be treated in a similar fashion. He said the council could decide that the fee would be imposed on undeveloped property and not imposed when the value of developed property was increased, differentiate between classes of developed property or determine that when the value of developed property was increased, the fee would not be collected until such time as the use changed. He said the City could not impose a fee and allow individuals to request a waiver. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Klein said the same approach with respect to when the fee was collected could be applied to undeveloped property; the fee could be collected when the property was developed or ownership transferred. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 13, 2005 Page 6 Work Session