Item C: Strategies for Transportation Funding

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? Shift Funding for Street Trees/Median Maintenance Program to Other City Funds – The council could consider transferring specific programs which are now supported by dedicated Road Fund dollars to one or more other City funds. Specifically, the Street Trees/Median Maintenance Program with an FY07 Proposed Budget of $1,310,000 and 14.9 FTE (which includes a $150,000/2.0 FTE service enhancement package for restoration of preventive maintenance pruning services) could be transferred to the Stormwater Fund and other City funds. Historically, the Street Tree Program was funded with General Fund resources, but this program was transferred from the General Fund to the Road Fund in the early 1990s in an effort to reduce budgetary pressure on the General Fund service system. However, it may now be appropriate to consider returning a portion of the financial obligation for street tree/median activities back to the General Fund. Significant justification also exists for funding a portion of the cost of street tree and median vegetation maintenance through stormwater user charges. Urban forests, including street trees, have proven benefits in reducing stormwater runoff, with increased rainfall interception of as much as 4,000 gallons per tree annually. Tree shading also cools curbed and open waterway runoff. Trees and vegetated medians stabilize soils through their root systems and help prevent erosion and sedimentation in the storm drainage system. Water absorption by tree and plant roots drains surface water, resulting in less surface runoff. Generating sufficient additional stormwater program revenue to fund 50% of the street trees/median program in the Stormwater Fund would require a one-time rate increase in the neighborhood of 6.5 – 7.0%. ? As an alternative to shifting all of the funding for street trees/median maintenance to other City funds, the council could consider partially funding specific road-related activities through a fee-based system. Early in its discussions, the Citizen Subcommittee considered a conceptual Eugene Livability Fee (ELF) to fund programs that enhance community livability and transportation alternatives. Examples presented for possible uses of the ELF included the street tree/median program, traffic safety elements (accessible pedestrian signals, photo red light, traffic enforcement), the street lighting program, a neighborhood traffic program (traffic calming, enhanced sidewalk/pedestrian facilities), as well as traffic demand management coordination and incentives (bicycle/alternative modes programming and marketing, off-street bike/pedestrian paths OM&P). ? Transportation System Maintenance Fee (TSMF) - This funding option was recommended by the Citizen Budget Subcommittee on Transportation System Funding and was implemented by City Council ordinance but later repealed. The concept behind this fee is that the city’s transportation infrastructure is a utility system, not unlike the stormwater utility system, which delivers transportation service to all users of developed real property throughout the city. Under this concept, a monthly fee is charged to each user to recover their allocable share of the overall system cost, including operations and maintenance activities. While the council originally enacted the Eugene fee as a dedicated funding source for the Pavement Preservation Program, a portion of the revenue generated from a TSMF could be directed by policy to fund street O&M activities as well as pavement preservation efforts at the level directed by council. This is realistically the only option presented with the potential to move beyond funding the annual operating deficit in street O&M activities and also enable the City to address the funding gap related to the backlog of pavement preservation projects. An overview of this funding option as studied by the Citizen Budget Subcommittee in late 2000 is included here as Attachment D. L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M060215\S060215C.doc