Item A: Expenditure Review Panel FY11 Report

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Expenditure Review Panel FY11 Report Meeting Date: April 25, 2012 Agenda Item: A Department: PDD/Development Staff Contact: Amanda Nobel www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5535 ISSUE STATEMENT This work session is an opportunity to review expenditures of tax increment for the first year (FY11) of the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan since its 2010 amendment. The Expenditure Review Panel (ERP) completed its review and compiled an annual report for the Agency Director. BACKGROUND Following considerable study and discussion, which included setting a goal and strategies to foster a vibrant downtown, the council approved Ordinance 20459 on May 24, 2010, to amend the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan. The amendment was targeted at specific projects that would generate economic development momentum downtown. The amendment: 1)increased the spending limit by $13.6 million to cover three specific projects; 2)established an oversight committee to review tax increment spending on an annual basis (the ERP); and 3)set the Downtown District to terminate after debt issued to pay for the projects is repaid or defeased. th The three downtown projects are: 1) assistance to Lane Community College for the project on the 10 and Charnelton Development Site; 2) additional downtown urban renewal assistance in funding the Broadway Place Garages so that the garages remain available and in good condition to support other development and redevelopment in downtown (and, at the same time, to enable improvements to public safety downtown); and 3) infrastructure improvements to the Park Blocks to provide better opportunities for the Farmers’ Market. Specifically, the ERP is included in Section 900 of the 2010 amended Downtown Urban Renewal Plan, which calls for the City Manager acting as the Agency Director to “convene not less than once each year a committee of such persons to prepare a report to the Director on a) the activities of the Agency for the previous fiscal year and b) whether the Agency’s expenditure of tax increment dollars was limited to the projects authorized by the Plan and the associated administrative costs authorized by the Plan.” In January 2012, the Mayor nominated and council approved five community members for the ERP: Chris Looney, Josh Burstein, Tom Kamis, David Mandelblatt, and Tamara Irminger-Underwood. The panel met three times over a three-month period and toured the projects. S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120425\S120425A.doc