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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />Work Session <br />McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall <br /> <br /> February 28, 2007 <br /> Noon <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, George Poling, Jennifer <br />Solomon, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman. <br /> <br /> <br />In the absence of Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy, who with Councilor Bonny Bettman was on official City <br />business in Washington, DC, Council President Ortiz called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to <br />order. <br /> <br /> <br />A. WORK SESSION: Discussion of Imposing Fees on Unoccupied Downtown Buildings <br /> <br />Acting City Manager Angel Jones introduced Urban Services Manager Richie Weinman, who reported that <br />staff had done limited research on the issue of taxing unoccupied buildings. He discussed the upsides and <br />downsides of the concept. <br /> <br />Mr. Weinman said that one outcome of such a fee might be that it could increase the amount of space <br />occupied downtown, creating more vitality on the streets. There was also the potential for getting some <br />revenue to support downtown services. On the other hand, there was a concern that such a fee would <br />encourage inactive or marginal uses in downtown. If the fee was not high enough, it might not be a <br />sufficient disincentive to property owners. <br /> <br />Mr. Weinman said that because of State tax law, there were limitations on how the City could assess fees to <br />such properties. Split rate taxation was not legal in the State of Oregon, and all must be taxed at the same <br />rate. He suggested some sort of nuisance fee might be a more viable alternative. <br /> <br />Mr. Weinman anticipated there would be questions raised about the definition of occupied space versus non- <br />occupied space, and what percentage of the space in question was occupied with what use. He cited the <br />Shafer building and former Bon Marché building as examples. Both are three-story buildings with two <br />occupied floors. In the case of the Shafer building, the bottom and second floor contain office spaces and <br />the third floor is vacant. In the case of the Bon building, the second and third floors are occupied and the <br />first floor is vacant. From the street, the two buildings have very different appearances, but from the <br />standpoint of use, they are somewhat similar. <br /> <br />Mr. Weinman invited questions. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor clarified the uses in the Center Court building and suggested that the building was not <br />completely in use as offices. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 28, 2007 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />