7.24.2019 City Council Work Session Minutes

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residential revenue for down payment assistance; asked what a housing consumer advocate is; said that it would be helpful if the recommendations were created within some context related to other programs. o Councilor Pryor - said his main interest in approving the CET was to provide flexibility and options for spending the money; however, more options means having to decide where that money is and isn't going; said he wanted the fact that housing needs in Eugene are not static or one -size fits all to be considered; said one of his intentions is that the CET funding could be leveraged with other sources of funds to create a bigger impact. o Councilor Taylor - pointed out that no additional money would be coming in for the first two years; said that helping with down payments and first and last month's rent is crucial. o Councilor Zelenka - clarified that the SDC offset with general fund money is only temporary for two years and additional money will come in the third year; talked about how many people are housing burdened in Eugene and the need to educate people about helpful housing programs; said he thinks this money should be a source for the renter protections committee recommendations. o Councilor Syrett - asked about additional outreach and engagement happening with rental housing fund money; agreed with Councilor Yeh that it would be helpful to have context for recommendations that are proposed, including existing programs and how they connect. o Mayor Vinis - said part of the pressure on renters is that the short supply of housing is driving prices up; said that remediation and protection for renters is critical, but so is the supply and the need to build more affordable housing. o Councilor Zelenka - asked if there was a method in place to track the number of housing units built since the implementation of the CET; said he wants to be able to point to the incremental changes made by implementing the CET; supported making it clear what the City Council priorities were. MOTION: Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved that the vast majority of the CET funds be used on direct assistance to renters and homebuyers with at least 15 percent of the residential CET revenue set aside for down payment assistance. o Councilor Syrett - shared concerns about precluding the advisory committee from coming back with recommendations that might not line up with this motion; asked if City Council could change the spending ratio with a future motion o Councilor Clark- talked about wanting to increase assistance for low-income individuals to help people buy homes rather than rent them; said the community is skewed towards a high number of rentals and HB 2001 will make it even more skewed; noted that prices won't go down as more units are created. o Councilor Pryor - said the flexibility of the CET funds is one of its strong suits and supported going thorough more of a process and getting more feedback before narrowing down the focus area for the money. o Councilor Zelenka - clarified that his motion directs a majority of the money in one direction but leaves flexibility for the rest of the funds; said he wants to give the committee that will be formed in August some clear direction from City Council. VOTE ON MOTION: PASSED 4:3, Councilors Semple, Syrett, and Pryor opposed. MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Yeh, moved to extend the meeting by 10 minutes. PASSED 5:2, Councilors Zelenka and Clark opposed. MINUTES — Eugene City Council July 24, 2019 Page 4 Work Session