CC Minutes - 10/13/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Glen Potter, Fire and EMS Department, presented the agenda item. He reminded the council of the Court of Appeals decision invalidating the current fee basis for the program. He said that three funding options for the program had been developed by the Toxics Board, and it had forwarded those options, outlined in the meeting packet, to the council. Meanwhile, Mr. Potter said, the Appeals Court had remanded the case back to the Lane County Circuit Court for final disposition. He reported that the Circuit Court had not yet given the City any specific guidance on the fee basis, or about those portions of the charter amendment were invalidated by the Appeals Court finding. He said that the City would like to have that direction, and if the council concurred with the staff recommendation that the City ask the court for the direction, staff would return for further discussion of the proposed options. Mr. Johnson suggested the council have some discussion on the options so staff could begin some preliminary work needed. The three options before the council were: 1. Afl Eugene businesses in the 2000-3999 SIC codes and meeting the lO-employee threshold pay a per-employee fee, with an exemption for those using zero hazardous substances in manufacturing. 2. Fund the program with General Funds. The fiscal year 1999 budget was $113,366, and the fiscal year 2000 program budget is $112,351. 3. Fund the program 50 percent through fees as described in Option 1 and 50 percent via General Fund support. Ms. Taylor favored Option 1. She did not think the General Fund should pay for the program. Mr. Farr asked if any local companies had a large number of employees but just used a small amount of chemicals. He was concerned about unfair distribution of the cost of the program, and cited Burley Bicycle Manufacturing as an example of his concern. Mr. Potter said that he had not done research on the issue but believed that there are such companies. Responding to a question from Mr. Farr, Mr. Potter confirmed that the threshold for participation in the program was ten full-time equivalent positions. Mr. Farr asked what happened in 2003, when certain portions of Oregon House Bill 2431 take effect. Mr. Potter said that the fee would be capped at $2,000 per employer, the City would be required to ask the State to assume control of the program, and the City "would be required to hold public hearings on the list of regulated chemicals. Mr. Kelly hoped that future legislatures acted in a manner that was more consistent with the intent of local voters. He wanted to stay close to the voters' intent in passing the charter amendment so he supported Option 1 until a future legislature allowed the City to charge on a quantity basis, which he believed was the fairest approach. Regarding the potential for unfair distribution of costs raised by Mr. Farr, he suggested that it was more inequitable to ask the general populace to pay those costs and it was a matter of "balancing those unfairnesses." Responding to a question from Mr. Kelly, City Attorney Jerome Lidz said a remaining technical step was the entry of a declaratory judgment by the Circuit Court specifying which portions of the MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m.