Agenda Packet 4-15-19 Public Hearing and Meeting

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April 15, 2019, Public Hearing and Meeting – Item 3 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Public Hearing and Possible Action: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2019, and Providing for an Immediate Effective Date. Meeting Date: April 15, 2019 Agenda Item Number: 3 Department: Fire Staff Contact: James Lenhart www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-7118 ISSUE STATEMENT In accordance with provisions of Section 54, Article VII of the Eugene City Charter and Section 3.694 of the City Code, the cost of running the Eugene Toxics Right-to-Know Program must be fully funded by fees assessed to local manufacturing businesses that are hazardous substance users. To support the program for the fiscal year July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020 (FY20), the Toxics Board recommends that City Council adopt a fee of $62.230 per full-time-equivalent employee, up to the maximum of $2,000 per entity as provided by state law. The $62.230 is a decrease of $3.20 per FTE in comparison to last year’s fee. Program staffing level is to continue at 90 percent, which will facilitate staff time spent on implementing a comprehensive audit process of businesses currently in the program to ensure accuracy of reporting hazardous substance use and reporting FTE employees, continuing to identify businesses that meet the program requirements, and improving outreach to the public and businesses that report under the program. To comply with Charter requirements, the fees should be adopted and effective before May 1st. Therefore, this item is scheduled for public hearing and possible action at a single meeting and provides for an immediate effective date. The unanimous consent of the City Council is required for the council to enact this ordinance following the public hearing. The affirmative vote of two-thirds of the council is required for an effective date less than 30 days after enactment of the ordinance. BACKGROUND Each year, beginning in 1998, council has approved fees to support the Eugene Toxics Right-to-Know Program, first by resolution, and later by ordinance due to changes in state law. Throughout the life of this program, the City has always assessed fees based on the number of persons employed by businesses required to be in the program. This is because the City is prohibited by state law from charging fees based on the quantity of chemicals used. Until 2004, the methodology was to poll businesses at the beginning of each calendar year and ask them to calculate and report their FTE for the preceding calendar year, then divide the program’s