CC Minutes - 02/25/98 Work Session

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Ms. Nathanson said she considered maintenance of the current transportation system "current services" and asked what the distinction was between "adequate funding for current services" and "transportation." Mr. Wong explained that the former phrase referred to the mixture of services provided out of the General Fund and the latter had to do specifically with the Road Fund, adding that the issue is the adequacy of funding currently going into the transportation system from the Road Fund and the fact that staff believes there will be no legislative relief in the 1999 session so the problem must be addressed locally. Mayor Torrey asked staff to refer to "current services" as used above as "GF-funded services." Ms. Taylor said she believed the discussion of potential tax measures should occur with the entire council. She hoped the discussion would include an alternate tax for restoration of services previously cut. Mayor Torrey encouraged individual councilors to develop and present strategies or introduce motions. Mr. Tollenaar agreed with Ms. Taylor that the restoration of items cut last spring should be added to the list of items to be funded. He emphasized that the committee's recommendations were advisory in nature and could be modified or turned down as the council saw fit. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that until the council found a way to cover current shortfalls, the council should not consider restoring cuts. Responding to her concern on transportation, Mayor Torrey said the committee had addressed an interjurisdictional discussion of the County's Road Fund. Ms. Swanson Gribskov noted that if the PSCC budget moves forward as drafted, AIRS is funded under that regional package. Mr. Wong explained that if the County levy is placed on the September ballot, those property taxes would be collectable in FY99 and since the money is not needed for operations of the Juvenile Justice Center and part of the County's Corrections Program until FY00, the idea was to capture those funds and do the AIRS conversion. If the measure is on the November ballot, the first year taxes are collectable is FY00 and the funds would be needed for the other programs so there is no cashflow to do the AIRS conversion. Mr. Meisner agreed with restoration of services, provided they were those important to the community. He said that about half of the minimum preservation program was not in the base budget and wondered how the program could function. Mayor Torrey said it was difficult to convince the public of the need to do maintenance so the council may have to take the initiative in adequately funding the program. Mr. Wong indicated that staff was still following the council's last adopted policy: to include $1 million in the base budget and to capture another $900,000 out of the marginal ending capital fund. He noted that that funding is only worth about $1.4 million in purchasing power now. Mr. Wong added that this is only about half of what is required for adequate maintenance of the current assets; however, if some of the major capital needs were addressed, it would reduce some of the ongoing maintenance budget. Ms. Nathanson requested information on the cumulative cuts among all the jurisdictions, adding that the information could be used to justify the council's actions with regard to service cuts. Mr. Lee asked the council to maintain the current level of services at the post-Measure 50 level, which cannot be done with the 3 percent cap. Otherwise, he said, the message the council is sending to the public is that "we are downsizing government." Mr. Lee asked what process would be used to decide funding priorities. Minutes--Eugene City Council February 25, 1998 Page 2 11:30 a.m.