CC Minutes - 11/27/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Pryor clarified the intent of his motion, which was that there were options that the council had already considered seriously, such as bonding, a gas tax, and TSMF. He hoped the work session would be confined to a combination of those options to address both preservation and operation. Councilor Pryor restated his motion: Move to postpone action on this item and di- rect the city manager to schedule a work session to consider additions or alterations to the funding strategy, including from a mainstream perspective a transportation system maintenance fee, gas tax, and bond. Councilor Taylor indicated she wished to offer a motion to amend Councilor Pryor’s motion to add other options. Councilor Kelly pointed out that while it was acceptable from a parliamentary procedure perspective, it was the council’s practice never to amend amendments. Mayor Piercy agreed that only one amendment at a time should be considered. Councilor Bettman proposed a friendly amendment to add a commuter tax to the list of options to be considered. Councilor Pryor accepted the friendly amendment for purposes of discussing the option at a work session. Councilor Papé said that while he would not be on the council in 2007 to discuss the matter it was his sincere hope that the council would not still be debating the issue four or five years in the future with a $150 million backlog. He challenged the current council and two new councilors to get the job done even though the solution might not be agreeable to everyone. Councilor Solomon said the council had been having the same conversation over and over again. She thought that the council agreed a TSMF had a valid position in the City’s strategy for transportation funding and she did not understand why the council got to the point of making a decision and then backed off. She encouraged the council to take action to include the TSMF as one of the strategies and as Councilor Papé mentioned earlier, it could always be adjusted later to accommodate other options. She hoped that the council would not be starting the discussion over every two years as that would be a disservice to citizens. Councilor Kelly shared Councilor Solomon’s sentiment and thanked her for speaking up. City Manager Taylor noted that the TSMF ordinance before the council was designed in such a way that if the council added to the gas tax or pursued a GO bond or other options, the formula would be adjusted. He said the ordinance did not presume that a TSMF was the only way to deal with the backlog or pavement preservation; it was designed to accommodate new revenue streams or sources as they became available. He said if the ordinance was adopted the council would still be able to consider other options that would have the effect of reducing the amounts assessed for the TSMF. Mayor Piercy clarified that if the council adopted the ordinance a work session on options could still be held. Councilor Taylor stated that the TSMF was an unfair tax and she would never vote for it. She hoped the council could discuss other options such as taxes on parking spaces and commuter taxes. Councilor Bettman remarked that the reason the council had not acted on a TSMF was because the proposal before it was very inequitable and a better proposal was needed. She noted that any revisions to the MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 27, 2006 Page 9 Regular Meeting