CC Minutes - 01/14/98 Work Session

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IV. REPORT FROM THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON FINANCE Mr. Tollenaar reviewed the work done to this point by the Council Committee on Finance (CCF). He said that the committee had considered three questions in its deliberations about a revenue measure: 1) does the City have a need for more money, and what are those needs; 2) what kind of revenue source or revenue sources should be considered to meet those needs; and 3) when was the appropriate time to go to the voters. Mr. Tollenaar said that the committee identified five needs that were all related to some extent to public safety: 1) continued expansion of community policing; 2) recreation programs for youth; 3) library operations; 4) park maintenance; and 5) affordable housing. The committee had heard a variety of reports on those areas and spent considerable discussion on the topic of revenues and revenue measures. Mr. Tollenaar said that early in January, the committee developed a consensus on the following recommendations: 1) the City Council communicate with the PSCC that the council was prepared to support a Lane County public safety levy with a strong emphasis on prevention and intervention. The committee assumed that the measure would be offered to the voters in November and that the measure would be a five-year property tax levy; 2) the council should forego going to the voters with a ballot measure in May, and establish a broad-based "blue ribbon" citizen committee to review the City's post-Ballot Measure 50 situation, and advise the council about possible revenue measures to be submitted to the voters this year and in future years. Regarding the second recommendation, Mr. Tollenaar said that the committee agreed that the impact of the Ballot Measure 50 cuts approved by the council had not been fully experienced or even perceived by the community, and it may take months for the community to understand the extent to which public services have declined. He pointed out that many of the reductions approved had yet to be implemented. Mr. Tollenaar said that additionally, the committee believed there was insufficient time to organize a campaign for the May ballot. He said that during the upcoming spring and summer, the council will receive more firm information about the yield from the new property tax rate and the specific features of the PSCC's proposal. Mr. Tollenaar said that there was no strong consensus among committee members about the elements of a possible May measure. As the committee considered the alternatives, it considered the relationship of the library and parks maintenance components to capital proposals that were not yet ready for implementation. The committee agreed that it did not make sense to move forward in advance of the capital outlay proposals. Mr. Tollenaar said that the committee acknowledged the defeat of the tax designed to support affordable housing and feared that including it in a measure would be a liability. The committee further agreed that the City was not prepared to move forward on a community policing measure given the information contained in the PERF study. Mr. Tollenaar anticipated that the proposed citizen committee would review the Six-Year Financial Forecast and validate from a broad perspective that the organization's present revenue structure would not support even the reduced level of City services. The committee could create the citizen support and leadership needed for successful passage of a revenue measure. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 14, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m.