CC Minutes - 02/28/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Senate Bill 0542 Councilor Brown, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to adopt the CCIGR recommendation of Priority 3 Oppose for Senate Bill 0542. Responding to a question from Councilor Ortiz, Ms. Wilson explained that the League of Oregon Cities was attempting to remove the restrictions in the use of transient room tax funds to allow more flexibility in their use as long as the use was still related to tourism. The bill would allow the tax revenues to be used by local governments to maintain roads that serve tourist destinations. Councilor Poling explained that he proposed to change the staff recommendation for Priority 2 Support because the definition of tourism - related facilities was vague. He believed that under the definition, Interstate 5 could be considered such a facility. The loss of the transient room tax funding would be detrimental to the promotion of tourism. It was unclear how the bill would affect the funding for organizations such as Travel Lane County. Councilor Clark agreed with Councilor Poling's position, although he was generally supportive of increasing local control. He was concerned about the potential loss of funds used for marketing tourism and he did not think that such funding should be eliminated in difficult economic times. He suggested that one unanticipated outcome of the passage of the bill could be that the City lost State Road Fund moneys. Councilor Zelenka also found the definitions vague and questioned how one defined a road that served a tourist destination. Ms. Wilson agreed with Mr. Poling that the definitions in the bill were very broad. Councilor Taylor moved to amend the motion to change the City's position on the bill to Priority 2 Support. The motion died for lack of a second. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:2; councilors Taylor and Farr voting no. House Bill 2231 Councilor Brown, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to adopt the CCIGR recommendation of Monitor for House Bill 2331. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend the motion to change the City's position on House Bill 2231 to Priority 1 Support. Councilor Clark said that in general, those who smoked were low - income. The City worked to change the school income tax referral to avoid affecting the low- income, and the bill in question would increase taxes on the same group. He did not support the motion. Responding to a question from Councilor Brown about the anticipated increase, Mr. Walsh said it would increase five cents. Councilor Brown asked what the tax was used for. Mr. Walsh reviewed the allocation split for the revenue realized by the tax. He also noted that the bill required three -fifths approval by both legislative houses. MINUTES— Eugene City Council February 28, 2011 Page 9 Regular Meeting