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7) A suggestion was made to look at the possibility of contracting out the program or use dispute resolution services. As noted in the council ' s previous work session, alternate dispute resolution such as mediation may offer benefits to parties in conflict, but can be an inappropriate or ineffective remedy for ensuring compliance with legal requirements. 14/~ith the addition oft new service, it is critical to evaluate whether it shouM be delivered by City employees or through a contractual arrangement. 14/bile cost is one factor in such an evaluation, there are others of equal importance including service quality, customer service, legal/risk issues, control of work outcomes and constituency impacts. If the council directs staff to pursue the possibility of contracting out all or part of the program, staff will return with a proposal for that process. 8) Provide information on the program in East Lansing, Michigan, that offered the opportunity for exemptions by neighborhood. East Lansing doesn't exempt neighborhoods from standards, but can restrict issuance of rental licenses. East Lansing currently has a moratorium on new rental licenses in the city. The City Council is considering whether to extend or lift the moratorium and has recently approved an ordinance giving neighborhoods the ability to control rental licenses in their area. In addition to the requests for information, council directed staff to have the Housing Policy Board review the draft language on housing standards. Staff presented the draft language to the board on June 28, 2004. The Housing Policy Board voted 4-2 to recommend not moving forward with the development of rental housing standards. A memo from the Chair of the Housing Policy Board, John VanLandingham, is included (Attachment B) that outlines the Board's discussion on this matter. Exemptions The draft ordinance attached includes exemptions modeled after Corvallis. The Housing Policy Board discussed exemptions at the June 28 meeting. The board supported exempting low-income rental properties from the rental fees, but did not recommend exempting off-campus University of Oregon Housing. Oregon State University does not have comparable off-campus housing, and this category isn't specified in the Corvallis ordinance. There are 1,541 public/low income housing units currently in Eugene managed by HACSA, St. Vincent dePaul, and the Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corp. The University of Oregon manages 864 units of off-campus housing. Fully assessed, these units represent a little more than $20,000 annual fees to the program. Individually, the $10 annual fee represents a little less than .003% of a $300 monthly housing payment. Of note, many qualified families currently overpaying for housing (over 30% of income) would not benefit from this exemption. Funding Assuming a housing program has the potential to be self-supporting over time, initial seed money from General Fund resources would be needed to implement the program in Eugene until a stable fee base is established, as was the case in Corvallis. In order to fund the program at the level staff is anticipating, a $10/unit per year fee is proposed. General Fund resource needs would be dependent on implementation options; a phased implementation could require more initial General Fund resources until program revenue is recognized. L:\CMO\2004 Council Agendas\M040811\S040811A. doc