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satisfied with the services being delivered the community. The council had not begun to explain the <br />ramifications of the financial forecast to the public. She did not think it was a good time to talk about taxes <br />when things appeared to be okay. Ms. Nathanson said that perhaps there was a way to get together focus <br />groups or some other strategy to work with citizens and see how they were feeling and their level of support <br />for certain solutions. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson wanted to know more about which taxes had unintended or indirect consequences, suggesting <br />all would have consequences on land use patterns or job location. Eugene is not a self-contained island. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner supported the motion, saying that all the positions in opposition seemed to indicate the motion <br />was a standalone motion and represented the sole direction given to staff. He anticipated a separate motion <br />related to public involvement in discussing both needs and options. He said that the discussion needed to <br />Occur. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner continued to be interested in addressing the issue of property relief to owner-occupied housing, <br />acknowledging it would take legislative action but if the City did not make it a priority the legislature would <br />never talk about it. He thought the City needed the flexibility to grant such relief as a taxing entity. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner was not willing to wait much longer than 2003. He noted that there were those interested in <br />another 20-year parks and open space bond, and there was discussion about bonds for police and fire facilities. <br />The City Council needed to begin talking seriously about an alternative to the property tax. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson thought fiscal year 2003 was a preferable year for the discussion. He thought the council would <br />be in a better position after June 2002 to suggest alternatives to staff. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor said she would probably support the motion for lack of a better alternative, but she did not think <br />the motion meant the City had to wait until 2003 for implementation. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor agreed with Ms. Bettman about the need to work actively on the goal of Fair, Stable, and Adequate <br />Financial Resources. She did not think people thought the property tax was equitable. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor pointed out transportation funding would require a tax. She reiterated her interest in a gross <br />receipts tax and for an individual income tax with low-income people exempted. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey pointed out that Governor John Kitzhaber was seeking reductions in services with the goal of <br />finding out if the public was willing to support those services through additional taxation. Until the City took <br />a similar approach, he thought it was making a mistake. He said the council should identify the service needs. <br />He said that the outcome of the goal needed to be made clear: Was it a shift from property taxes to income <br />taxes? The council could go out and ask the voters that question right now. Mayor Torrey said that if the <br />council was trying to fund services into the future, that was a longer discussion than the council could have <br />tonight. He said that if the motion was not needs-oriented, he would not support it. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey anticipated that the 4J School District would be facing severe budget problems, and he <br />suggested it was not right to act in a vacuum without considering those needs. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called for comments in the third round. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 10, 2001 Page 7 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />