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Mr. Meisner said there was no real guidance from the survey distributed because of the way it was <br />worded and the few councilors who responded. He said the survey did not ask the right questions <br />and did not ask questions in a way that made them answerable. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said the intent of the new-found revenue would be for an across-the-board property <br />tax offset and stressed the importance of keeping that in mind as a legislative priority. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner voiced concern that Eugene would be taxed for services that benefitted the entire <br />region. He stressed the importance of looking at regional solutions for regional problems. <br /> <br />City Manager Carlson commented that the discussion was about revenue sources that the <br />Eugene City Council could initiate or put on the ballot. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly stressed the importance of clear direction to staff. He said he wanted to ask the voters <br />about new revenues and give people a say in Eugene's taxes and services. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly commented that not much revenue could be gained by a local corporate income tax. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor said the problem was that there is continuing upward pressure on property taxes in any <br />event despite measures taken by the City of Eugene. As an example, he cited 4J school district <br />bond measures which added eight percent to an average property tax rate. He said if the motion <br />were passed, then any new fees would require separate elections. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she was not in favor of a sales tax. She said there should be a nonproperty tax <br />revenue source for addressing the library levy and added that patrol officers and firefighters <br />should be prioritized at the top of the list of unfunded strategic needs. She called for a new <br />priority list for City services, saying that the last one was out of date. She said that City Manager <br />Johnson had promised a chance for re-prioritizing the list but noted that it had never happened. <br />She said the youth levy had provided great service but when it was weighed against other needs <br />of the City it did not have the same priority as core services. She added that where the money <br />was spent was significant in the decision. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mr. Fart regarding what the next step was, City Manager Carlson <br />said it was to pass motions on the use of the proceeds and on the instrument for getting funds. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart said there was no desire in the community to add another level of taxation. He raised <br />concern over creating even more of an imbalance between Eugene businesses and other nearby <br />jurisdictions. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap8 said the library funding should be coming out of the General Fund. He agreed with Ms. <br />Bettman that there should be a priority for funding core services. He stressed the need for the <br />good will of the voters in any plan the council approved. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mr. Pap8 regarding whether there had been any public surveys <br />done regarding revenue measures, City Manager Carlson said that no surveys had been done on <br />that particular issue but noted that the results of the various attempts at city- and county-wide <br />revenue measures over the last 15 years. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson expressed concern that it was not the right time to deal with the issue. She <br />wanted to see ideas from the community and commented that those ideas would have a higher <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 2002 Page 7 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />