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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 08/08/07 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session Council Chamber August 8, 2007 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She convened an executive session pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(f) and ORS 192.660(2)(h) to deliberate with designated staff to consider information or records that were exempt by law from public inspection, and for consultation with counsel concerning legal rights and duties regarding current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. Mayor Piercy convened an open work session in order for the City Council to take action on items discussed in the executive session. A. WORK SESSION: Options for Response to the Gas Tax Referendum Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to direct the City Manager to withdraw the City's appeal regarding the gas tax. Ms. Bettman indicated she was in favor of not pursuing an appeal, as there was little to be gained from a public benefit perspective. She wanted to move forward with an ordinance to clarify code language regarding write-in candidates. She was also in favor of sending a written request to the Lane County Elections Office asking that ballots for write-in candidates be retained for a long enough period of time to provide documentation for signature-gathering predicated on those write-in votes. Mr. Clark said he supported the motion as the public had spoken clearly about its wish to have a say in the matter at the ballot box, regardless of whether the City prevailed in court. Mr. Poling said he intended to support the motion. He noted the issue related to a court ruling based on a definition that was not clear and future problems would be avoided by revising the code language. He pointed out that the City Recorder did not create the problem; it was based on State and County regulations regarding voting records and the courts interpretation of the City's code language. Mr. Pryor agreed it was important to recognize that the City was following the Oregon Administrative Rules as it had been for the past 30 years and instead of spending taxpayer dollars on a legal appeal, the City would simply clarify the code language. He noted the gas tax was part of a larger package of solutions to the transportation funding problem. He said that the $.03 tax increase would not begin to address the $170 million backlog of projects and other measures would be required as well. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Ortiz said she was ambivalent about abandoning an appeal as the City had followed the same process for 30 years and the court's ruling was disconcerting; although she did not want to spend taxpayer dollars if there were other options available. Mr. Zelenka said he would support the motion but found the court's ruling “ridiculous”. He said the time and resources necessary to appeal the ruling could not be justified when an ordinance would also fix the problem. He felt it was irresponsible for petroleum interests to oppose steps that could fund repairing the transportation infrastructure. He pointed out that local governments could no longer rely on state and federal resources and would need to ways to meet that need. He thought that the entire funding package should be placed on the ballot. He said that if one portion of the package, such as the gas tax failed, he would not support the rest of the package and the public would have to deal with roads that were not repaired. Ms. Taylor said she would support the motion, although her inclination was to pursue the appeal. She was willing to put the gas tax on the ballot and felt it would pass as people realized it was a fair approach to raising funds for roads. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Interim City Manager Angel Jones said that staff would bring back to the council suggested language for an ordinance. Ms. Bettman said that a $.03 increase was chosen because it could be done by ordinance and adjusted by ordinance in the event other funding options were not available; once the increase was on the ballot it could not be changed. She asked how other councilors felt about a $.04 increase instead of $.03. Mayor Piercy interjected that in a conversation with Commissioner Faye Stewart, he had expressed interest in a countywide measure that would "hold Eugene whole." She said there appeared to be support from petroleum and gas station interests in a countywide gas tax. Ms. Jones added that the City of Springfield was also exploring options for funding its transportation system. She said interest from the County and Springfield presented an opportunity to collaborate on a regional concern. Mr. Pryor recognized Eugene's willingness to take the initiative on transportation funding. He said that while some councilors might prefer a higher or lower gas tax, a $.03 tax had been agreed upon and that was what should be referred to the ballot. He did not want to change an element of the funding package at this point. Mr. Clark said he agreed with the need to generate funding for the transportation infrastructure. He was willing to refer the gas tax to the voters, but objected to equating lack of support for it if the measure failed to a lack of interest by the public in repairing streets. He thought that more General Fund resources should be directed to road repair, but in the interests of supporting a package he was in favor of a $.03 gas tax. He suggested referring all parts of the package to the voters at the same time. He agreed it was good for Eugene to take the lead on transportation funding, but would favor the possibility of decreasing Eugene's gas tax at a point in the future if a countywide tax would make Eugene whole. He said that there was support among other jurisdictions for resolutions that would urge the Board of County Commissioners to enact a MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 2 Work Session countywide gas tax. He wanted staff to prepare language for a nonbinding resolution to the commissioners asking for consideration of a countywide gas tax that would keep Eugene whole. Mr. Zelenka said he was satisfied with a $.03 tax as a part of the larger package. He said a countywide tax of $.05 in conjunction with Eugene's $.03 tax was required to generate the necessary funding. He agreed with Mr. Clark that the entire funding package should be on the ballot to determine public support for fixing the roads. Mr. Poling said he would support the $.03 gas tax if there were a clear understanding that it would be repealed if a countywide gas tax that left the City harmless were passed. Ms. Taylor agreed with repealing the ordinance and referring the $.03 gas tax to the voters. She was not in favor of referring a larger gas tax, such as $.04. She was opposed to placing other parts of the funding package on the ballot. She expressed interest in a countywide vehicle registration fee and felt it would be supported as every community was facing the need to repair streets. She thought if a county gas tax was passed Eugene could repeal a portion of its gas tax. In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, City Attorney Glenn Klein explained that the current code automatically repealed $.02 of the current gas tax on February 26, 2008, and the council had three choices: repeal that provision of the code, allow the sunset to take effect and lose that $.02 tax or refer the sunset repeal to the voters. He said in order to retain the $.02 tax, the sunset provision would have to be repealed by either the council or the voters. Ms. Bettman pointed out that the County had experienced difficulty passing funding measures and asked if a countywide tax would be enacted by ordinance or referred to the voters. Ms. Jones said that had not been determined. Ms. Bettman did not believe the City was "whole" currently and it was necessary to act on the City's behalf now and negotiate with the County from a position of strength. Regarding a registration fee, she noted the State had already doubled registration fees and bonded on future revenue and that was not a progressive approach to funding road maintenance as those with a $500 car paid the same as someone with a very expensive vehicle. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to direct the City Manager in November to pro- ceed with Option 3b to enact the sunset repeal and refer the $.03 gas tax increase. Mr. Pryor said in an ideal situation he would prefer to see the entire package on the ballot but realized that was not practical as the voters could choose among components or defeat the entire package. He said there would need to be considerable discussion around other components such as a road utility fee and logistically that could not be referred to a vote in November. He wanted to act to refer the gas tax to the ballot quickly and the motion was the appropriate course of action. Mr. Zelenka hoped that the discussion of holding the City harmless meant that a countywide tax of $.08 was enacted, at which point the City could repeal its $.03 tax. He asked if it was feasible to refer the entire funding package as a single ballot measure. Mr. Klein replied that it would be difficult because of the differences in the funding mechanisms, but he would research the matter. He said it would be possible to have separate, but linked ballot measures that were dependent on mutual passage. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 3 Work Session Mr. Zelenka said he hoped the message to voters was that they were being asked to vote on one piece of a larger funding package. He said it was important for the public to understand that most Oregon cities were facing a road fund deficit and local jurisdictions would need to develop their own solutions. Mr. Clark expressed concern that referring the funding package components separately to the voters would result in people thinking that the initial component had fixed the problem and rejecting subsequent measures. He liked the concept of repealing the $.03 increase if a countywide tax was passed as a way to guarantee to the public that the council was not looking at a number of ways to increase taxes. He had heard that the gas dealers association and the Chamber of Commerce were in favor of a countywide gas tax. He said that Representative Nancy Nathanson raised the potential of a metropolitan area-only gas tax, perhaps bounded by schools districts and eliminating the rural areas. Mr. Poling commented that even though the State doubled registration fees, Oregon was still 45th in the nation in terms of its fees. He suggested that the County could be asked to calculate what revenues could be generated from various levels of a countywide registration fee. Mayor Piercy said the County was reluctant to enact a funding mechanism after its recent experiences with the voters. Ms. Bettman said she would not support including caveats in the ballot measure. She said there was no assurance that funds raised by the County would be dedicated to maintenance and preservation and she knew the County preferred to use the funds for other purposes, such as new roads. She said it was unknown what the County would establish as a tax rate and how that would be distributed to cities and, therefore, she was uncertain if Eugene would receive enough to be held harmless. Mr. Klein said he was not certain what the term "hold harmless" meant in terms of including that reference in the $.03 gas tax ballot measure. He could attempt to include ballot measure language that would indicated if the County enacted a $.03 tax that applied to the City of Eugene, the City would get all of that revenue generated from gas stations within Eugene. He pointed out that the council already had the authority to change the $.03 tax, whether enacted by the voters or the council, and that was the simplest approach instead of trying to craft ordinance language to reflect those provisions. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to extend the discussion by 10 minutes. The mo- tion to extend passed unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Klein determined there were no objections to taking action on the ordinance the following week. Public Works Director Kurt Corey reminded the council that the short amount of time before a November election meant the council and mayor would need to be active participants in advocating for passage of a ballot measure. Mr. Zelenka asked if ballot measure language could indicate that the City's tax would be reduced propor- tionately if the County enacted a tax at a certain level. Mr. Klein said he would attempt to do so. Mr. Zelenka said the transportation subcommittee directed staff to discuss other funding options with the County and other jurisdictions, including a vehicle registration fee and rental car fee. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Clark commented that the City's backlog of deferred road maintenance had not developed because more roads were built, but because the money that was available was spent on the wrong things and that was the perception of many people in the community. He said the County was facing loss of money in its Road Fund and other financial shortfalls and would need to enact some funding measure; it made sense for the City to collaborate with the County. Ms. Bettman said the tax had the potential to pass if the council supported it, but if it was complex and tied to County actions it could be jeopardized and she would not support it. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones Interim City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2007 Page 5 Work Session