CC Minutes - 02/20/07 Public Hearing

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Ms. Bettman said the ordinance indicated there was the possibility the City might need to waive some of its debt policies. She asked if council could include a provision in the ordinance that projects funded with the bonds be consistent with the City’s debt policies. Ms. Cutsogeorge recalled that staff had discussed with the council the potential the City might want to lend funds to a private party, which would require it to waive its debt policies. Speaking to Ms. Bettman’s question, Mr. Lidz said the result of including such a provision requiring consistency with City debt policies in the ordinance would simply be to make the process of changing the policy more difficult. He said that the council could never adopt an unchangeable policy because future councils could not be bound in such a way. Including the provision in an ordinance required different procedures to change the ordinance. Ms. Bettman wanted to see text amending the ordinance that the City would seek projects that were consistent with current City debt policies. 7. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Motor Vehicle Fuel Dealer’s Business Licenses; Repealing Section 3 of Ordinance 20337; and Amending Section 3.467 of the Eugene Code, 1971 Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Gary Heldt , 3477 Onyx Street, supported the proposed increase as the most equitable way for citizens to pay for street maintenance. He was disappointed that the increase was not more and suggested that passage of the ordinance at this time might undermine the work of the subcommittee working on street maintenance options. He thought the gas tax should be the City’s sole source of non-bondable, preventive maintenance funding. He thought that gas was relatively cheap and citizens had a responsibility to help move the country to energy independence and a reduction in green house gases. Terry Connelly , 1401 Willamette Street, representing the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber did not support the increase in the gas tax at the level proposed and for the purposes specified in the ordinance. The increase would be directed toward operating costs rather than the backlog of street repairs. He believed that those costs needed to be prioritized in the City’s General Fund budget. Mr. Connelly said that if enacted, the increase would give Eugene the highest gas tax in the state at eight cents per gallon, five cents higher than any other city in Lane County, and eight cents higher than communities without local gas taxes. He said the magnitude of the increase would put Eugene dealers at a competitive disadvantage with other dealers located outside the community. The chamber was also concerned about the timing of the increase. Mr. Connelly recalled the chamber’s offer to help with a campaign for a bond measure or capital levy to apply to the $100-plus million backlog in street repair work. However, an increase in the gas tax before a decision had been made to send a measure to the voters would confuse the public and likely doom the changes of winning an election. He said the public did not distinguish between the backlog and ongoing operations of streets, and would view a sharp increase in the gas tax as fixing the problem. Mr. Connelly further pointed out that the State Legislature was considering a state gas tax increase with a portion to be distributed to cities for street operations and maintenance. He suggested the City Council wait and see the results of the state legislation before considering a local gas tax increase. He also asked the council to be mindful of the consequences of an increase in the tax, as he anticipated there was a breaking point and at some future time that will lead to an initiative petition to repeal the gas tax. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 20, 2007 Page 11 Public Hearing