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<br /> <br /> <br />ECC <br />UGENE ITY OUNCIL <br />AIS <br />GENDA TEM UMMARY <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Public Hearing: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal <br />Year Commencing July 1, 2012 <br /> <br /> <br />Meeting Date: February 21, 2012 Agenda Item Number: 1 <br />Department: Fire & EMS Staff Contact: Jo Eppli <br />www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-7118 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />ISSUE STATEMENT <br /> <br />In accordance with provisions of Section 54, Article VII of the Eugene City Charter and Section 3.694 <br />of the City Code, the City’s Toxics Right-to-Know Program is fully-funded by fees assessed to local <br />manufacturing businesses that are hazardous substance users. To support the program for fiscal year <br />2012-2013 (FY13), the Toxics Board is recommending a fee of $79.00 per full-time-equivalent <br />employee (FTE) employed by participating businesses in 2011, up to a maximum of $2,000 as provided <br />by state law. <br /> <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Each year, beginning in 1998, the council has approved fees to support this program, first by resolution, <br />and later, because of changes in state law, by ordinance. Throughout the life of this program, the City <br />has always assessed fees on the basis of number of persons employed by the participating businesses. <br />This is because the City is prohibited by state law from charging on the basis of quantity of chemicals <br />used. <br /> <br />Until 2004, the methodology was to poll the businesses at the beginning of each calendar year and ask <br />them to calculate and report their FTE for the preceding calendar year, then divide the program’s <br />revenue requirement for the upcoming fiscal year by the total number of FTE reported, and bill <br />accordingly, with payment due May 1 each year as provided by the Charter. <br /> <br />In 2004, a state-imposed fee cap of $2,000 took effect, resulting in fee reductions for larger participating <br />businesses, and fee increases for smaller ones. Although participating employers are still polled for their <br />FTE figures, those with a high number of FTE now pay a smaller amount per FTE to support the <br />program, because of the state-imposed fee cap. Efforts to address this perceived inequity, both locally <br />and before the State Legislature, have not been fruitful, and so the recommendation before the council at <br />this time is to adopt a similar fee, similarly calculated, to those adopted in each of the past eight years. <br /> <br />After performing a task analysis on managing the program, the Toxics Board is recommending an <br />increased budget to cover 90 percent staff time (instead of 75 percent staff time as in previous years) to <br />support the program for FY13, resulting in a revenue requirement of $107,747. This is an additional <br />budget increase of $14,126 (or 15.3 percent), which more accurately reflects the cost of staff time spent <br />managing the program, and complies with provisions of the Eugene City Charter and City Code that <br />require the Toxics Right-to-Know Program be fully-funded by fees assessed to local businesses that are <br /> S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120221\S1202211.doc <br /> <br />