CC Minutes - 02/14/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Farr thanked those who offered testimony. He said he spent many years on the school board dealing with budget reductions and his first years on the City Council were spent addressing the ramifications of ballot measures 47/50, which reduced property taxes. It was not an easy thing to make budget reductions when one knew the people affected and the ramifications of the cuts. He had faced eight consecutive quarters as a State legislator facing uncertainty economic times. He hoped that by the time people had a chance to vote they would have received the information they needed to support an income tax. Councilor Brown also thanked those who testified and thanked superintendents Russell and Gill for their presentations. Councilor Brown said the funding situation was a crisis situation that had taken time to build up. One could get by with doing more with less for only so long. He stressed the temporary nature of the proposed tax, which was intended to "stop the bleeding" and keep the situation from getting worse while the State of Oregon worked toward a solution. He hoped the details of the tax would be hammered out soon. Mayor Piercy also thanked those who testified and acknowledged the work that had occurred to get the proposal to this. point. She thanked the schools for the good job they did in trying times. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR This item was addressed at the 5:30 p.m. work session. 3. POSSIBLE ACTION: Adoption of Resolution 5023 Calling a City Election on May 17, 2011, on a Temporary City Income Tax to Raise Funds for Local Schools Bethel School District Superintendent and Eugene School District 4J Superintendent George Russell were present to answer questions. Finance Director Sue Cutsogeorge distributed copies of a PowerPoint presentation entitled City of Eugene —City Income Tax for Local Schools. She reviewed the presentation, which highlighted the details of the two resolution options included in the meeting packet, Resolution A and Resolution B. Under Resolution A (Attachment A in the meeting packet), the council would set the tax rates in the ballot measure and the districts would receive whatever revenue was collected after the cost of implementation and administration was subtracted. Under Resolution B (Attachment Bin the meeting packet), the council would set the amounts to be raised for schools in the measure and establish the tax rates at a later date. The rates would be reset each year to provide the desired amount for schools. Either resolution could have a graduated tax rate. Ms. Cutsogeorge reported that Eugene School District 4J and the Bethel School District asked the council to consider two scenarios for a new tax for schools, one that raised $26.6 million and one that raised $16.8 million. The funds would be split between the two districts on the basis of the number of City residents attending district schools. Because of uncertainty about future State funding levels and the need for labor negotiations to secure concessions, the districts could not guarantee that the dollars from such a tax would reduce class sizes, restore furlough days, or prevent teacher layoffs. In addition, the actual revenues from a City tax could vary from year, affecting district service levels. MINUTES — Eugene City Council February 14, 2010 Page 7 Regular Meeting