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Mr. Johnson thanked the council for its support, saying he was confident he could do the job and <br />was well-supported by a great staff. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey asked Mr. Johnson to develop a process for review of the City Manager's position <br />description. <br /> <br /> B. Action: Ordinance: Library Local Option Levy and Voter Pamphlet Decision <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson introduced the topic, saying there was no formal staff presentation beyond the material in the <br />meeting packet. <br /> <br />Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mr. Johnson said the option before the council was <br />whether to put all of the money required on the levy or do some interfund borrowing. Administrative Services <br />Director Warren Wong explained the implications of interfund borrowing. He recalled adopted council policy <br />of carrying a two-month unappropriated ending fund balance in the general fund, noting staff has provided <br />two options: a "technical" approach carrying a five-month balance; and a "minimal" approach following the <br />general fund practice of two months. Mr. Wong said if the council chooses the second of these, it will have to <br />do some interfund borrowing from another fund that has sufficient cash. He said staff recommends not using <br />the latter to establish a precedent if in the future the council decides to go for local operating levies because it <br />may force the council to borrow on the open market. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey's ascertained that no one was opposed to the second option (the two-month balance). <br /> <br />Mr. Tollenaar expressed concern with communicating clearly with the public, saying a clear and explicit <br />statement about the disconnect issue must be made. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, to direct staff to draft a resolution that <br /> would express the sense of the council on several points: <br /> <br /> 1. The council does urge voter support of the local operating levy for library <br /> operations that will appear on the November ballot. A revenue stream already <br /> exists to support debt service for about $18 million in urban renewal bonds that <br /> will be sold to fund most of the cost to construct a new library, and there are <br /> other sources to make up the difference between the $18 million and the actual <br /> cost. The new downtown library would be scheduled to open in the year 2,002; <br /> <br /> 2. If the voters fail to approve the library operating levy in November, there will <br /> be no branch libraries, no expanded library hours, no increase in the library <br /> budget for books and materials, and no increased funding to operate the larger <br /> downtown library. If the levy fails in November, however, the council will still <br /> have at least three years in which to identify alternative funding sources before <br /> the library opens. The alternatives could include one or more new, non-property <br /> tax sources or another property tax levy could be submitted to the voters in <br /> November, 2000; <br /> <br /> 3. In the event that none of those alternatives is successful, the new library could <br /> still open as scheduled but with a reduced level of programming and service. <br /> Some of the space that would not be needed for library purposes could be used <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 29, 1998 Page 4 <br /> 11:30 a.m. <br /> <br /> <br />