CC Minutes - 11/21/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Stephen Kramer, 42113 Deerhorn Road, Springfield, maintained most of the revenue collected by the program was being used to collect the tax. There had been few legitimate complaints filed with the program and an analysis of those complaints indicated almost all could have been addressed under existing law, suggesting the program was redundant. The program was collecting a large surplus, which also suggested the program was unnecessary. He believed the revenue supported a bunch of bureaucrats who wished to extend and expand their bureaucratic base. Jonathan Clay, 4529 SW Vermont Street, #6, Portland, represented the Metro Multi- Family Housing Association. He urged the council to sunset the ordinance. His organization supported quality housing and believed complaints of substandard housing should be investigated and addressed where problems existed; however, the level of substandard housing complaints received by the City suggested they could be addressed within existing City resources. At a minimum, he suggested the City limit the amount collected for the Rental Housing Program to ensure there was only a prudent reserve at year's end. He recommended a fee be reduced to be no more than $5 per unit, which would provide adequate program funding and allow for the reserve. He believed it was unwise for the City to over - collect from its taxpayer base in such difficult economic times. Richard Thorin, Ward 7, owned 87 rental units in Eugene and had been paying the fee since its inception. He termed the fee ridiculous. Mr. Thorin believed that existing State law was sufficient and worked well. He had not realized any benefit from the Eugene program. He asked that his money be refunded and that the ordinance be sunsetted immediately. Brett Rowlett, 4970 Nectar Way, lead organizer for Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards, said he had advocated for adoption of the code as a university student because he believed something needed to be done about rental housing conditions in Eugene. His organization's research found that similarly sized communities had rental housing programs. Mr. Rowlett maintained that the current program was necessary because renters could not afford to go to Small Claims Court. He did not think the program cost much, it was not proactive in seeking out complaints, and it encouraged landlords and tenants to work out their disagreements. Mr. Rowlett asserted the program was supported by landlords, who considered it a resource. Renters did not mind paying the fee and homeowners supported the program because it protected their property values. Paul Cauthorne, Ward 1, asked the council to end the Rental Housing Program. He suggested that the program sounded great in theory when described by a past university student who advocated for it. He reported he had attended the November 2010 meeting of the department advisory committee that advised the City on the program, and members had requested information from staff to better quantify the value of the program. Staff indicated that the committee was in place to support City staff objectives and "essentially told to sit down and shut up." He did not think that was appropriate or what was intended. Scott Smith, Ward 5, opposed the Rental Housing Code. He said advocates maintained there was an overriding need for the program but he found that City staff was actively promoting the program to tenants. He believed the record would demonstrate that the "groundswell of problems" the program was created to solve did not exist. He believed the program represented "government for government" and suggested staff would naturally recommend its continuance because staff benefited and could not be objective. Mr. Smith termed the program a "cash cow" for the Planning and Development Department and said it was difficult for citizens to monitor expenditures in the program because of the way it was managed. The program was administration heavy. Because people were constantly buying and selling property, staff spent time "cruising" Craigslist hoping to find new landlords to tax. The program was also MINUTES— Eugene City Council November 21, 2011 Page 4 Public Hearing