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offs, such as stormwater discharge versus adequate off-street parking and other competing issues. In addition, because of cost recovery requirements, he said staff are thinking more like attorneys, in terms of billable hours, and are reluctant to go "off clock" for additional service, because in doing so they will not meet 90% cost recovery. He said he thought there was real value to having one person who was not responsible to stay on billable hours and could focus on coordination. Mr. Korth said he has seen a lot of positive staff changes in the last few years, and he felt staff were doing the best they could under the complicated circumstances they were faced with day to day. The fact of the matter, he said, there was so much going into even a simple permit application, many people would gladly pay for assistance in going through the process. He said he was in favor of the proposal for a facilitator. Mr. Wanichek said he also supported the proposal, although in general he was not in favor of adding government to solve problems, especially economic problems. He said he was bringing another perspective, from being on the City Budget Committee for six years, two years as chair. The City has a $95 million budget, he said, and spends $200,000 a year on economic development. That was not much. He said he thought the City should pay for the new position. He noted that Mr. Korth had said developers would be willing to pay for the position, and he would argue that they already do, through their property taxes. He also added that he had been on the Lane Metro Partnership for about six years, and he felt the Partnership could deal well with interagency questions, but not interdepartmental issues within the City. He said the new position would cost about $125,000, which would mean a matching cut somewhere else, but he felt out of a $95 million budget it could be reprioritized. Ms. Edwards said her comments would parallel Mr. Wanichek's. She said the Metro Partnership would like to be a one-stop shopping point for businesses coming into the region. She did not think the current funding ratio would allow the Partnership to take the facilitator role on, but that could be explored. She wondered if other cities had similar positions. Mr. Coyle said Texas, where he came from, was the other end of the spectrum: the processes were simple, and there was no cost recovery expectation. Mr. Bowerman said he was in favor of the position, and proposed a role modification. He said the permit requirements had become very complex because of Federal and State regulations over the top of City regulations, and the City was the recipient of any ill will coming from trying to interpret and implement the many requirements. He said his modification would be to add "and to assist in methods and policies to streamline permitting processes." He suggested 50% of the position be devoted to helping people through the permit system and 50% devoted to system streamlining. He said he thought the person in the position would be ideally situated to do both roles. Mr. Kahle said he wanted to take the committee back to the genesis of the proposal. He said several former mayors and former Eugene Planning and Development manager Lew Bowers had talked about the City's former BATeam (Business Assistance Team), and he asked how well did this proposal replicate what was lost when the BATeam was disbanded. He also wanted to know if individual employees were held to the 90% recovery rate. If so, he said, that may be what creates the impression the committee is talking about, because the recovery rate requirement would be a disincentive for employees to spend extra time with permit applicants. Mr. Coyle clarified that the permit staff and management have to average out to 90% cost recovery, not each employee. MINUTES--Mayor's Committee on Economic Development June 14, 2004 Page 7