CC Minutes - 05/26/09 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to amend the Resolution to change the effective date from July 1, 2009, to January, 2010. Councilor Clark said he would hate to see the City raising any kind of Systems Development Charge (SDC) related costs in this economic time. Mr. Schoening said the increase had been postponed several months already. He explained that the Public Works Department had already reduced staff by two Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions in the fund. He thought it could survive by buying down more of the construction permit reserve. He underscored that the service would not go away because it was required for the building permit activity that the City had. He reiterated that the impact would be to other funds, should the current SDC administrative charge remain the same. Councilor Brown asked what the rationale was for capping the four percent increase at $30,000. Mr. Schoening replied that the intent was that at that rate, the capped amount more than covered the cost of the service provided in larger more complex projects. He said they were trying to maintain a rate that coincided with the services provided. Councilor Brown asked for an example of a project that would be capped at $30,000. Mr. Schoening responded that if Autzen Stadium or the arena project had been built on green fields they probably would have paid SDCs that would have generated that kind of administrative fee. Councilor Brown thought the cap was somewhat arbitrary. He indicated he would not support it at that number. Councilor Zelenka asked Mr. Schoening how much the City would forego in revenue. Mr. Schoening replied that the revenue at the current level of activity would be approximately $90,000 in this fiscal year. This meant that deferring the increase would cause an impact of approximately $45,000. He said the permit center had very few funding sources, the other major source being the construction permit fund. He reiterated that the service would still be provided and the question was how to fund it. Councilor Zelenka surmised that other funds would be depleted to make up for deferring the increase in SDC administrative charges. Mr. Schoening replied that it would not deplete the funds, because there were some “vacancies” in the other funds. He cited, as an example, that there was a person working on the Wastewater Master Plan which meant that a position was vacant. Councilor Zelenka ascertained from Mr. Schoening that the four percent increase was equal to approximately $90,000 in this fiscal year. He asked what the impact would be on the work load. Mr. Schoening responded that he did not think it would affect the service or the work load; it would only affect the construction permit fund. Councilor Solomon noted that the council planned to discuss a local economic development plan at its work session scheduled for May 28. She felt that the increase to the fees was counter-productive to the goal of economic development. Councilor Clark said he was thinking of putting into place something other jurisdictions had done, which was to attach the fees at the closing of the deal when a development was sold. He did not want to actively discourage, through fees, any economic development. He understood that the projected amount of the fee increase was based on current permitting levels. He said this was based on the assumption that, no matter what the City did, the permit levels would remain the same. He wanted to find ways for permit numbers to increase and he believed that delaying the fee increase was a way to do so. He felt it would cost more to present more economic challenges to the potential development activity that could occur in the community. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 8 Regular Meeting