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maximum indebtedness meant this maximum could be incurred whether or not there was an increment. In <br />that case, he declared it would have to be repaid even if there were no proceeds from the increment. <br /> <br />Mr. Lidz commented that the issues raised were far enough beyond the appeal that he could not respond. He <br />stressed that nothing raised in the appeal required the council to address these issues at this time, as the only <br />thing the council was mandated to do was to adopt the ballot title. He underscored that this did not affect <br />the substance of the revisions or amendments to the Urban Renewal Plan. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mayor Torrey, Mr. Lidz stated emphatically that it would not be incorrect to <br />say in the text "incremental property taxes." <br /> <br />Mr. Taylor asked Financial Analysis Manager Sue Cutsogeorge to speak to what the ordinance provided in <br />terms of maximum indebtedness and the caveats explained within the text of section 1300. He underscored <br />that he was trying to avoid having this appeal of the language become a debate of the ordinance. Ms. <br />Cutsogeorge clarified that the ordinance set the maximum indebtedness at $34.8 million. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Ms. Cutsogeorge explained that there was existing <br />indebtedness in the amount of $3,030,000, used to purchase the Chiquita site. She added that it was not <br />included in the maximum indebtedness. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly asked Ms. Cutsogeorge to speak to the concept of incremental property taxes. <br /> <br />Ms. Cutsogeorge stated that, while it may be true that there was no definition of incremental property taxes <br />in the urban renewal statutes, it was the concept upon which urban renewal was based. She felt the use of <br />those words was not inaccurate. <br /> <br /> Councilor Bettman offered a friendly amendment to substitute "of $34.8 million" for <br /> "amount" in the third to the last line of the statement. The maker and the second for the <br /> motion accepted the friendly amendment. <br /> <br /> Councilor Kelly offered a friendly amendment to strike the word "incremental" from the <br /> proposed amended text. Councilor Meisner declined to accept the friendly amendment. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey stated that, in the face of a tie, he intended to vote for the motion. He commented that he <br />would have been hard-pressed to support the motion had the word "increment" been stricken. He said the <br />intent of the ballot title was to ensure the public knew what was happening, which was that there was a base <br />of tax on the property in question, the amount above the base was the increment, and the tax increment was <br />what would generate the revenue. As such, he felt it imperative to retain this word. <br /> <br /> Councilor Meisner made a friendly amendment to his motion, reworded slightly by legal <br /> counsel, to substitute the words "incremental value are used" for the words "are diverted" in <br /> the next to the last line of the statement. Councilor Poling accepted the friendly amendment. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called for a vote on the motion. <br /> <br /> The motion passed, 5:1; Councilor Taylor voting in opposition. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 31, 2004 Page 6 <br /> Special Meeting <br /> <br /> <br />