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Ms. Taylor thought such a zone would be very dangerous. She said State legislation would have to be changed before she would support an Enterprise Zone. Ms. Bettman quoted Mr. Sheehy who said Eugene's competition was global. She opined it made little sense since tax abatement was injuring school districts, the State's General Fund budget, the County budget, jails, the City's General Fund, etc. She would support such a zone only if it was extraordinarily strategically focused on properties that otherwise had obstacles such as infill and brownfields. She said, in light of her main objective of creating living wage jobs and a sustainable economy, the zone should have a sliding scale. Mayor Torrey spoke glowingly of an industry in western Eugene and said it was the largest taxpayer in Lane County. He thought the new Enterprise Zone could help small corporations start and grow in the area. Mr. Kelly asked if it would be possible, under State law, to cap how much tax revenue to forgive from a single applicant. Mr. Pap6 thought the zone, of all four recommendations, had the potential to do the most good. He was impressed by the way the ;;diverse committee" approached the issue and arrived at a unanimous recommen- dation. Mr. Poling commented that the City missed the opportunity to apply for the zone for two years. He wished to move this particular recommendation forward so that the application could be made in a timely manner when the application period was open. Ms. Bettman asked, regarding the industry Mayor Torrey spoke of, how much the City paid per job, how much the City paid in infrastructure, and how much the City was paying in services. She recalled the hearings in front of the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) in which the schools and utilities said they had the capacity for the industry. She felt the recent bond measures for more school buildings and the fact that the Eugene Water and Electric Board had drilled several test wells to be evidence that the capacity was not adequate. Ms. Taylor agreed with Ms. Bettman, adding that the population had increased and more police officers were needed as well. She recalled another business that had not paid a living wage and had left, she thought, without paying any taxes. She surmised that the people employed by the business had caused a further burden on the human service providers as a result of the low wages. Mr. Kelly thought the Enterprise Zone could be useful and appreciated the fine-tuning work the committee did on parameters. He thought the greenfield versus brownfield delineation was worth further consideration. He asked staff to provide an outline of what would happen next, should the council vote to apply for the zone. Mayor Torrey stated that the fifth recommendation would be the last item on the City Council regular agenda and that Councilor Meisner would be available by telephone for the vote. He thanked the committee for its work. The council gave the committee members a round of applause to demonstrate appreciation for their civic contribution. The meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 9, 2004 Page 9 Work Session