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service capacity or foregoing some services in order to maintain others. County residents and visitors continue to expect at least adequate and in many cases improved services from county government. Lane County is faced with.the challenge of straggling to keep rapidly escalating costs balanced within modest revenue growth. In the discretionary general fund this meant cutting $2.7 million from county services for FY 04/05, primarily because the cost of contributing to PERS and medical coverage for employees and retirees has increased by six per cent per year, while voter-approved property tax limitation measures cap property tax increases to three per cent annually. With expenses outstripping revenues, public safety activities are impacted more so than other services, because those services use approximately 70 percent of the county's discretionary general fund. The five-year general fund forecast predicts the revenue/expenditure gap to grow each year. Additional reductions leave Lane County's law enforcement, corrections programs (including the jail), juvenile justice programs, the District Attorney's prosecution services, and parole and probation services with very little capacity to meet the criminal justice system demands in this region. Continued reductions in the law enforcement arena create a substantial public safety risk for the commtinity. To address the chronic financial problems and to focus on the "First Priority" of the County's Strategic Plan, which calls for allocating resources to services addressing critical life &health safety needs, a countywide public safety district has been suggested. This proposal is a strategy that would provide stable, dedicated funding for necessary public safety services that have historically been provided by the county. Because a special district typically has its own permanent property tax rate, it may provide sustainable · funding of its particular services. Each proposal for use of a special district requires careful fiscal and legal analysis, and extensive intergovernmental and community input. This agenda item does not provide this level of analysis, but presents a launching point for the Board of County Commissioners to. discuss a draf~ outline of public safety special district components and direct further staff development of necessary information to formally initiate formation of such a district. It also provides an opportunity for the Board to consider initiating Metro Plan amendments to clarify and provide for greater flexibility in the provision of services in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area to facilitate the formation of a public safety special district consistent with the fundamental principles of the Metro Plan. B. Analysis ,Special Districts Revenue , Cities and counties are unable to maintain the services they provided in the past, much less meet increased demands. Special districts can be used as a strategy to provide revenue for I~CC Agenda Cover Memo - County Special Service District Page 2 of 6 August 25, 2004