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Mayor Torrey requested council comments and questions. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart believed that the recommendations before the council would make it more difficult and <br />expensive for people to do business in Eugene. It concerned him that the council was again <br />considering creating an uneven playing field for business. He believed that it would mean people <br />would leave the community to buy gas. He wanted the council to proceed with caution before <br />making it more expensive for people to shop in Eugene. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly noted that Springfield was contemplating a similar local gas tax and expressed <br />appreciation to the Springfield representatives for that city's cooperation. He noted that the <br />ordinance gave the manager authority to begin collection; he thought there needed to be an <br />added sentence that stated it was the intent of the council that collection not begin until <br />Springfield implemented its tax. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thought the ordinances were a good start. He suggested to Mr. Fart that failing streets <br />were also not hospitable to businesses. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart left the meeting briefly. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly asked if there were other residential factors that could be introduced in rate-making for <br />the TSMF. He expressed appreciation that staff was willing to consider fee reductions for those <br />who attempted to do the right thing. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that the council had discussed the revenue sources in question as sources for <br />operations, maintenance, and preservation (OM&P) funding only, and he thought the ordinance <br />related to gas taxes needed to be revised to ensure that the money was dedicated to that <br />purpose. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed with the remarks of Mr. Fart and Mr. Kelly and said she would only be willing <br />to consider a gas tax if Springfield adopted one. She expressed surprise that the ordinances were <br />not to be referred to the voters given that there was a tax increase involved. She did not want to <br />make the decision involved for the taxpayers, particularly because people thought they were <br />already paying taxes for the purpose involved. She agreed with Mr. Kelly that the funding should <br />be dedicated to ©M&P. Ms. Bettman indicated she would support a carefully worded measure to <br />refer to the voters. She expressed concern that the tax was being proposed through an <br />ordinance, which could be altered by a future council. She said the voters should be aware of that <br />fact. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked what would happen in the future to the gas tax dollars the City was receiving <br />from the State and the County Road Fund. If the City continued to receive a share of County <br />Road Funds, would they be dedicated to ©M&P or spent on new projects? Could that funding <br />reduce the amount of the TSMF collected? <br /> <br />Mr. Corey said that Lane County was quite specific about the City's use of the County's Road <br />Funds, and he looked for that use to continue. He did not anticipate that the County funds would <br />necessarily be available in the future, but if they were, the TSMF rates could be adjusted. <br /> <br />Regarding the staff recommendation to adopt the tax by ordinance, Mr. Corey said that staff's <br />one-on-one discussions with the council did not indicate any clear direction regarding the matter, <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 8, 2002 Page 10 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />