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Ms. Piercy believed there had not been any reductions in the public's desire to have the roads fixed in <br />Eugene and that the public's desire for roadway improvements would outweigh any opposition to the <br />proposed ordinance. <br />Mr. Zelenka stated he had recently met with representatives from the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and <br />the Chamber's Local Government Affairs Council (LGAC) and noted that they believed the local gas tax <br />had been very helpful in addressing problems such as the operations and maintenance backlog. <br />Mr. Zelenka noted that he supported not only the ordinance but also other revenue stream strategies such as <br />the street utility fee. <br />Mr. Zelenka agreed with Mr. Poling that the proposed ordinance revision did not constitute a new tax. <br />Mr. Zelenka reiterated for the benefit of the council, and those listening to the meeting, that every cent of <br />the local gas tax was required to be spent on road repairs. <br />Mr. Corey, responding to a question from Mr. Clark, clarified Mr. Zelenka's previous statement and noted <br />that until FY2010, the entirety of the local gas tax revenues had been spent on the capital preservation <br />program. A portion of the gas tax proceeds are presently being used to balance the FY 2010 operations <br />and maintenance component of the road fund budget. <br />Mr. Clark commented that the public was not generally aware that most general fund revenues from <br />property taxes did not go to fix local roads. <br />Mr. Clark noted he was concerned by the council's recent decision to direct $1 million in available federal <br />funding to bike paths rather than local road improvements. <br />Mr. Clark stated he would be willing to move the discussion of the proposed ordinance to a public hearing. <br />Mr. Pryor felt that the local gas taxes might ultimately represent a declining source of revenue and <br />questioned the reliability of the gas taxes as a continuing source of sufficient revenue for the City. He <br />further expressed that the discussions surrounding the gas tax were part of a much larger overall revenue <br />problem and that it was important to find a combination of careful and well - planned revenue - generating <br />strategies to deal with the current budget crisis. <br />Ms. Ortiz supported moving the proposed ordinance to a public hearing as well as the implementation of <br />the ordinance itself. <br />Mr. Brown and Ms. Solomon both supported the proposed ordinance and agreed with earlier comments <br />made in that regard. <br />Mr. Poling, referring to previous council conversations regarding the garbage hauler surcharge, stated there <br />was no more direct nexus than that which existed between the road repairs and the gas tax. He further <br />hoped that the City might find more ways to utilize general fund revenues to pay for road repairs and <br />improvements. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 15, 2009 Page 2 <br />Work Session <br />