Item 2F: Approval of League of Oregon Cities Priority Agenda

Home Browse Search

%88%',1)28( Central Services Finance Division Memorandum City of Eugene th 100 West 10 Ave., Ste 400 Date: July 11, 2012 Eugene, Oregon 97401 (541) 682-5127 To: Jon Ruiz, City Manager (541) 682-5802 FAX From: Jessica Mumme, Program Coordinator, Finance & Intergovernmental Relations Subject: League of Oregon Cities (LOC) Legislative Priority Setting Synopsis of Recommendation With direct input from the City’s Legislative Coordinators, and review of the previous actions of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) and the full City Council, the following two items rose to the top as high priorities for our City and the League of Oregon Cities to add to their legislative agenda: General Government Reform the court fines system in a manner that recognizes the value of both state and local courts. (Item F) Telecommunications Pass legislation renewing the 9-1-1 tax. (Item K) City staff has worked for many years on both of these topics, and these are not new issues to the legislature. th Item F: In 2009, the 75 Legislative Assembly enacted House Bill 2287. The measure established an eight-member Joint Interim Committee on State Justice System Revenues to make recommendations on Oregon Judicial Department fees, fines and surcharges, and to recommend distribution of the temporary fee and surcharge revenue to justice system entities. Representative Nancy Nathanson co-chaired this Committee. The Committee found that the current court revenue structure is exceptionally complex and lacks transparency. As directed by House Bill 2287, the Committee put forward three legislative concepts related to the civil and criminal state justice revenue structure; Legislative Concept 364-1, Legislative Concept 1168, and Legislative Concept 1168-1. Generally speaking, the recommendations would simplify the current criminal and civil revenue and collections process, preserve access to justice, provide transparency, and prepare for the implementation of the Oregon Court Program. The result of the three Legislative Concepts, which affects cities, is the local jurisdiction requirement to submit the first $60 of a traffic fine to the state. This requirement, along with other changes made to court fine amounts, has resulted in detrimental fiscal impacts to municipal courts and has the possibility of threatening their continued operation. Item K: Kristi Wilde, the 9-1-1 Communication’s Program Manager, has actively worked on 9-1-1 issues affecting the City of Eugene, and the entire State of Oregon. Revenues derived from 9-1-1 taxes are an extremely important revenue source for local governments. Cities receive approximately $13 million per biennium which they must pass through to the governing authority of the 9-1-1 jurisdiction serving that city. This is the backbone of the budget that supports the planning, installation, maintenance, operation and improvements of the 9-1-1 system. These funds are supposed to be used only for purposes of handling citizen’s calls to a network of primary and secondary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and local emergency responders. The statutory authorization for the collection of this tax contains a six- year sunset provision, and is due to expire on December 31, 2014. Additionally, pre-paid cell phone and VoIP users do not currently pay the 9-1-1 tax. Legislation attempting to correct this inequity has been introduced in prior legislative sessions but failed. The items that City staff has recommended as secondary items of interest include: