Item 3: Ordinance on Downtown Urban Renewal Amendment

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Proposed Projects The three downtown projects are: 1) assistance to Lane Community College (LCC) for their project on th the 10 and Charnelton Development Site, 2) additional downtown urban renewal assistance in funding the Broadway Place Garages so that the Garages remain available and in good condition to support other development and redevelopment in downtown (and, at the same time, to enable improvements to public safety downtown), and 3) infrastructure improvements to the Park Blocks to provide better opportunities for the Farmers’ Market. The projects are described in more detail in Section 600 of the Plan and Chapters 5 and 6 of the accompanying Report. (The Plan and Report are in Ordinance Exhibits A and B, respectively, in Attachment A.) Amendment Information The Downtown Urban Renewal District was created in July 1968. The Plan has been amended four times, most recently in 2004. Two of those amendments extended the life of the Downtown District, and two of those amendments made other changes. The proposed Plan includes a summary of the past amendments. State law requires a “substantial plan amendment” for council to increase the maximum indebtedness or to increase the district boundary by more than 1%. The substantial amendment process requires a mailed notification to all Eugene property owners; review by the Planning Commission; notification to other impacted taxing districts; and a public hearing. The summary of plan amendment process feedback is Attachment E. Maximum Indebtedness Maximum indebtedness refers to a total spending limit during the life of the plan. For Eugene, the maximum indebtedness was adopted in 1998 and spending towards that limit began in fiscal year 1999. The current “maximum indebtedness” of $33 million has almost been fully spent, with about $26 million spent on the library. Adopting a “maximum indebtedness” figure does not authorize or obligate the district to enter into debt. Rather, it allows current and future URA Boards to have the ability to fund projects over time, either with cash or by issuing debt. The proposed ordinance would increase the spending limit by $13.6 million. Legislation passed in 2009 places new limits on how much a municipality can increase maximum indebtedness. That same legislation, however, also provides that those limitations “do not apply to the extent the municipality approving a plan obtains the written concurrence of taxing districts imposing at least 75 percent of the amount of taxes imposed under permanent rate limits in the urban renewal area.” Together, School District 4J and the City impose at least 75% of the amount of taxes imposed under permanent rate limits in the urban renewal area. On May 19, 2010, the School Board for District 4J adopted a motion, for purposes of that statute, concurring with the increase in maximum indebtedness. Therefore, the new legislative limitations are not applicable to the proposed maximum indebtedness increase. Changes to the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan Amendment The draft plan amendment was prepared in February and provided to council prior to work sessions on March 8 and May 10 as well as the April 19 public hearing. As a result of council discussions, conversations with bond counsel, and information from PeaceHealth since that time, the following changes are included in the proposed Plan that is in Attachment A. (The Plan with tracked changes is Attachment F.)