Item B: Funding Strategies for Transportation System Operations, Maintenance, and Preservation

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Broadened SDCs State ORS stipulates the limits under which transportation SDCs can be established and Legal Authority restrictions on how the revenues can be used. They can only be used for capacity- and Restrictions oriented capital projects responding to growth demands. They cannot be used for street on Use reconstruction unless additional capacity is added, and then only for the capacity-related portion of the projects. Reimbursement fees can also be collected for the community?s investment in capacity that supports growth, which in turn can be used for road-related needs. The City is currently evaluating such a reimbursement transportation SDC. Lane County could establish an SDC to be collected by the City, or the City of Eugene could include the arterial/collectors under Lane County?s jurisdiction within the UGB in its fee structure, and then transfer the SDC revenue to Lane County. In either case the projects would need to be identified in a capital improvement plan. Road funds that would otherwise have been used for improvements by Lane County are not required by law to be transferred to Eugene; to do so would be a policy decision by the Commissioners. As with the Lane County situation, ODOT facilities planned for construction that would provide capacity for new development within the UGB could be accommodated by a state or local SDC. A further refinement of this option could be a local match for state facilities. The issues outlined above would also apply to ODOT facilities. The revenue stream would be dependent on the pace of development. It would not Assessment of address the preservation and maintenance needs of the community unless the road funds Financial that would be replaced by SDCs were tranferred to Eugene?s Road Fund. This concept Stability and has been reviewed by the City of Eugene Public Works Rates Advisory Committee who Political have recommended that the two agencies, should they so choose, each create their own Feasibility transportation SDC versus attempting to incorporate all of those needs in the City SDC. They suggested that it would be appropriate that the associated road funds be transferred to Eugene, but they also acknowledged the political challenges associated with such a transfer. The City of Eugene may be interested in supporting Lane County?s goal of establishing a transportation SDC if the Road Urban Transition agreement that is due to expire July 2001 can be renegotiated and improved. Likewise, the City may be interested in establishing matching funds through SDCs if there could be some assurance of investment in the local area by ODOT. There is no current estimate available of the financial impact to development as a result Potential of either jurisdiction creating a transportation SDC. The additional costs associated with Economic such a fee may have an effect on Council affordable housing goals. Impacts This proposal would be consistent with Council?s growth management goal that Consistency development pay the full cost associated with its impact on the eligible infrastructure. with Council Goals and Policies As mentioned above, the City of Eugene currently is or is planning to collect an MWMC Other regional wastewater SDC as well as a Lane County Parks SDC. It is likely that similar Jurisdiction arrangements exist in other jurisdictions, and one would expect that the concept will be Experiences increasingly used as funding options for infrastructure improvements become more and more restricted. I4