CC Minutes - 01/24/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

valued. He spoke briefly of the reductions the district now contemplated, which included teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, school closures, and athletic program reductions. Josef Siekiel - Zdzienicki, 1025 Taylor Street, supported a fair tax to support education on the May ballot. He noted that Wal -Mart and Target were at the proposed West Eugene EmX terminus asked what that said about Eugene. Erin Ellis, 901 South 32 Place, Springfield, read a letter on behalf of Jan Nelson of Eugene in opposition to the West Eugene EmX extension. On her own behalf, she spoke to Ms. Butler- Boyesen's remarks, saying that LTD had recalculated its numbers to reduce the projected costs of the system, and she questioned how the number it had arrived at could be possible. Kirsten Haugen, 1436 East 22 " Avenue, supported the proposed City income tax for education and asked the council to refer a progress, temporary, modest tax to the voters. She noted the already reduced number of school days. She was a person of moderate income who was willing to pay the tax because it would cost more to watch the community deteriorate. She agreed with others who did not think Eugene could wait for the State to act. Tammy Young, 2238 University Street, supported the proposed City income tax for schools. She would happily pay such a tax and so would many of her neighbors,and friends. Ms. Young asked the council to refer a tax measure to the voters so they could make the decision to stand for their children. Kyle Yamata, 480 Kingswood Avenue, urged the council to support an income tax dedicated to the schools to maintain basic services. He said he currently taught classes of as many as 40 students, making it very challenging to get to every student for personalized feedback and quality education. He wanted to avoid further teacher layoffs and even larger classes. John Barofsky, 2010 Hubbird Lane, favored a well- funded school system. While he believed the City had a role in the solution to education funding, he also enumerated some of the basic services the City delivered for which funding must be preserved. He suggested that whenever a new revenue source was considered that the council must think about the City organization as a whole. While it might be correct to refer an income tax to the voters, Mr. Barofsky questioned whether the referral should occur in May, given that the City would be weeks away from its own financial forecast at that time. Mr. Barofsky said the tax in question was complex and while the subcommittee that developed the tax proposal had reviewed many of the issues involved, that review had been at a superficial level due to a lack of time. He recommended that the council refer the measure to the voters in November 2011 to address his concerns and to avoid jeopardizing the school districts' May 2011 bond measures. He pointed out that no matter which ballot the council selected, the funds generated by such a tax would not be available until mid to late 2012. Mr. Barofsky also called for study of the economic impacts of such a tax. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum. She thanked all those who spoke. Councilor Ortiz also thanked those who spoke. She suggested that making comments about a specific business was not appropriate, and pointed out that Wal -Mart was the first business to respond to those who suffered from Hurricane Katrina. MINUTES— Eugene City Council January 24, 2011 Page 5 Regular Meeting