Item 3: Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Action: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2012 Meeting Date: February 27, 2012 Agenda Item Number: 3 Department: Fire & EMS Staff Contact: Jo Eppli www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-7118 ISSUE STATEMENT In accordance with provisions of Section 54, Article VII of the Eugene City Charter and Section 3.694 of the City Code, the City’s Toxics Right-to-Know Program is fully-funded by fees assessed to local manufacturing businesses that are hazardous substance users. To support the program for fiscal year 2012-2013 (FY13), the Toxics Board is recommending a fee of $79.00 per full-time-equivalent employee (FTE) employed by participating businesses in 2011, up to a maximum of $2,000 as provided by state law. BACKGROUND Each year, beginning in 1998, the council has approved fees to support this program, first by resolution, and later, because of changes in state law, by ordinance. Throughout the life of this program, the City has always assessed fees on the basis of number of persons employed by the participating businesses. This is because the City is prohibited by state law from charging on the basis of quantity of chemicals used. Until 2004, the methodology was to poll the businesses at the beginning of each calendar year and ask them to calculate and report their FTE for the preceding calendar year, then divide the program’s revenue requirement for the upcoming fiscal year by the total number of FTE reported, and bill accordingly, with payment due May 1 each year as provided by the Charter. In 2004, a state-imposed fee cap of $2,000 took effect, resulting in fee reductions for larger participating businesses, and fee increases for smaller ones. Although participating employers are still polled for their FTE figures, those with a high number of FTE now pay a smaller amount per FTE to support the program, because of the state-imposed fee cap. Efforts to address this perceived inequity, both locally and before the State Legislature, have not been fruitful, and so the recommendation before the council at this time is to adopt a similar fee, similarly calculated, to those adopted in each of the past eight years. After performing a task analysis on managing the program, the Toxics Board is recommending an increased budget to cover 90 percent staff time (instead of 75 percent staff time as in previous years) to support the program for FY13, resulting in a revenue requirement of $107,747. This is an additional budget increase of $14,126 (or 15.3 percent), which more accurately reflects the cost of staff time spent managing the program, and complies with provisions of the Eugene City Charter and City Code that require the Toxics Right-to-Know Program be fully-funded by fees assessed to local businesses that are S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120227\S1202273.doc