Item B: FY14 Plan on Action - City Service Fee Proposal

Home Browse Search

Preference for Controlling Investments July November Survey Survey Allow council to determine spending 24% 17% Dedicate a portion of spending and allow council to control the rest 36% 42% Dedicate 100% to specific expenditures and not allow council to alter the allocation 25% 37% Refused/Don’t Know 15% 4% A number of arguments were proposed in the November survey to test the impact of additional measure features related to accountability and transparency – restrictions on how the money would be spent, a cap on the fee, an oversight committee, and five-year review clause. Voters were asked if these features would make it more or less likely that they would support the measure. In all cases, these features increased support for the new fee. November 2012 Survey Test of Arguments – Accountability and Transparency Measures Much More or No Effect/ Doesn’t Much More or Somewhat More Matter / Unsure / Somewhat More Likely to Support Don’t Know Likely to Oppose Restrictions on how the money is spent 73% 20% 7% Cap on the amount of the fee 69% 21% 10% Oversight committee 58% 29% 13% 5-year review clause 58% 28% 14% In drafting an ordinance for the new City Service Fee, the council should consider which of these features would be included as part of the accountability and transparency for the fee. At the January 14 council work session, the City Manager will present recommendations for accountability and transparency measures to be built into the ordinance for the new City Service Fee. Limited Income Assistance: Council members have indicated a concern about how the new City Service Fee might affect residents with limited income. The new City Service Fee could include features to mitigate or lessen the impact of the fee on those fee payers. The method for doing so can be simple or complicated, and the impact on the cost of billing and collection will be affected by the method chosen. If the fee is billed and collected through EWEB, the City could participate in EWEB’s Customer Care program which is targeted at individuals and ratepayers with limited incomes. The way the program currently works is:  Up to $200 of bill-paying assistance is available per year.  Ratepayers at 60 percent of Oregon median income are eligible to apply.  There is similar assistance available for customers who are receiving unemployment compensation. There are a number of benefits from incorporating the City Service Fee into this program. First, it is an already existing program that will be relatively simple to add to. Fee payers will have an easy S:\CMO\2013 Council Agendas\M130114\S130114B.doc