CC Minutes - 06/30/99 JEO - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

center, they invited all the school districts in the County and the major participants were Springfield, 4J and Bethel. He said they talked about the need to reach out to young people who had not yet committed a crime but were in the process of leaving a school setting and needed a way that would turn them around into an appropriate school setting. He said that money comes through the County, that they would have to provide the services back into the school districts, but the school districts would administer the program. He said there needs to be a clear message to the voters that the County is not balancing its deficit budget through this initiative. Warren Weathers, Mayor of Lowell, stated he appreciated all the work the committee did. He said that revenue sharing was an essential part of this and makes a difference in Lowell. He said he agrees with Darrel Williams that, "it is a bribe" but it is a bribe that they are willing to accept. He sees law enforcement as a deterrent to crime, rather than as law enforcement. He stated the revenue sharing should be based on population correlated with assessed value. He said he would recommend to his city council that the revenue sharing funds be used to contract with the state police or sheriffs office for a police presence in the community and have them coordinate the neighborhood watch of volunteers. He noted from his perspective the meeting had the ambience of a campaign kick-off dinner. He said it would be better perceived as a public hearing on a proposed budget. He added he thinks there is a packaging problem and it is a wrong way to start out trying to sell a measure. He added if this is going to pass, the public has to be convinced that their money will be used frugally. He added public perception is everything to the voters and they don't trust the County with their money. He said most voters in Lowell are pro-public safety and have voted in the past for public safety measures that promised to address their concerns, only to have those promises withdrawn after the measure was passed. He added the life of a measure should be short enough so the voters are comfortable that it could be canceled if it is not working. He said the idea of a new tax is innovative but many voters fear that it will be increased until it is as burdensome as a property tax. He said the ballot measure needs to put a ceiling on the tax and to advertise that it has a ceiling. Gary Rayor, City of Eugene, complimented the PSCC. He said he had come a long way within the last three weeks from going from mistrust to highly confident about the proposed measure and new tax. He said it is important to determine the approximate breakdown of personal vs. business income tax. He wanted to know the percentage of each. Maine responded the recommended proposal was 8%, but had not been determined by the County Commissioners. Rayor wanted to know what percentage would be generated from personal income and business tax. Tollenar responded it had not been determined yet, it will be up to the Board of County Commissioners to address the problem. He said the split needs to be determined between personal and corporate for the total amount to be raised and they have $22 million for the amount to be raised. He said there had been different ideas about how the split should be between personal and corporate. He said an idea the committee talked about was to make the split between corporate and personal, Page 11 -- Lane County Joint Elected Officials Meeting -- June 30, 1999 WP bclm1990751M