6.10.2019 City Council Work Session Minutes

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MINUTES Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 June 10, 2019 5:30 p.m. Councilors Present: Betty Taylor, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Greg Evans, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor Mayor Vinis opened the June 10, 2019, work session of the Eugene City Council. 1. WORK SESSION AND ACTION: An Ordinance to Fund Community Safety with a Payroll Tax and Adding New Section to the Eugene Code, 1971 Assistant City Manager Kristie Hammitt and Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner talked about the community safety plan and revisions made to the proposed ordinance regarding the payroll tax. Council Discussion: • Councilor Clark- talked about amendments he has previously mentioned; said that he thinks this money needs to get spent on public safety but that this manner of paying for what we must do cannot sustain public support; expressed his commitment to referring the proposal to the voters. • Councilor Taylor - agreed with Councilor Clark that this will be put to a vote whether council sends it to a vote or not and it will fail as currently proposed; said she would consider the tax if people making under $25 an hour were exempt, but cannot vote for it when people who are barely making enough to live would get taxed; expressed concern about what would happen if the tax was put to a vote in seven years and the measure failed. • Councilor Pryor - talked about the need to spend this money on community safety services, acknowledging the significance amount of the tax; said that after spending months looking at revenue options this was the one that floated to the top; noted there will always be opponents to any tax proposed, but that this was the most practical and viable way; expressed frustration that council continued to talk about the problem without solving it; talked about reasonably reduced rate for low-income workers. • Councilor Syrett - expressed the need to find sources of revenue for public safety and talked about the vetting that took place to land on this revenue choice; acknowledged that there would be no proposal that would be seen as perfectly fair or acceptable to everyone; supported amending the ordinance to provide an exemption for people earning $15 an hour or less; noted that the public safety budget has remained static while the population has grown and that while there might be a ballot challenge, council has a responsibility to step up and pass this tax, talked about the significance of support from the Chamber of Commerce, which represents many businesses affected by the tax. • Mayor Vinis - spoke about the broad positive impacts across the community and that the tax on any individual is shallow; talked about the need for police response to livability crimes across the community; said she was prepared to advocate for this tax and present it accurately. • Councilor Semple - asked if the community safety budget will later replace money in future budgets or be in addition to the current budget; shared concerns about needing MINUTES - Eugene City Council June 10, 2019 Page 1 Work Session