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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem A: Joint Meeting with River Road Parks and Rec District ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Joint Meeting with River Road Park and Recreation District Meeting Date: July 23, 2008 Agenda Item Number: A Department: Central Services/LRCS Staff Contact: Jim Carlson/Renee Grube www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5524/682-5067 ISSUE STATEMENT The River Road Park and Recreation District has requested a joint meeting between its Board of Directors and the Eugene City Council to discuss the City’s role in supporting the district. (see Attachment A). BACKGROUND The River Road Park and Recreation District (RRPRD) was formed in 1954 and has been providing a valuable and high quality service to residents for over 50 years. Currently, the district operates a community center and indoor pool at Emerald Park. In addition to the pool and center, the 9 acre park includes landscaped grounds, a playground, picnic shelters, wading pool, and a skatepark. The district has classes, programs and activities for youth, adults and seniors as well as a unique gymnastics program at a facility outside the district boundaries. Emerald Park is an active and popular neighborhood asset, with a full scope of services to meet the needs of youth, families and older adults. While RRPRD is seen as the main provider of services inside the district boundaries, the City of Eugene does provide a number or park and recreation services, including: -Acquisition and development of over 100 acres of parkland in the River Road area over the past 20 years including the West Bank Park along the Willamette River (including Rasor and portions of Maurie Jacob Parks) and Bramblewood, Rosetta Place and Walnut Grove parks. -After-school activities at Kelly Middle School. The park district is responsible for the payment of all the instructors who teach in the after-school program. -Joint development and ongoing coordination of multi-purpose field at North Eugene High School Later this year, the City will also be: -Improving Rosetta Place Park by adding a playground, pathways, trees, lawn area, native plants, drinking fountain, benches, and picnic tables, and -Providing after-school activities at River Road and Howard Elementary Schools beginning in 2008-2009 in collaboration with Eugene School District 4J. Because the City of Eugene does not currently operate a community center in the River Road/Santa Clara area, Emerald Park and the services provided by the River Road Park and Recreation District are important in providing equitable and accessible parks, recreation and cultural opportunities for Eugene citizens and the overall community. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080723\S080723A.doc Financial Impacts The City of Eugene has had an intergovernmental agreement with the River Road Park and Recreation District since 1983 to provide City funding to allow the continued use of RRPRD facilities and services for properties previously within the boundaries of the district but which have been annexed to the City. The idea behind the original agreement was that as existing residents annexed to the City, they could continue to use the services of the district. It was also expected that annexation of the entire district would occur within a 20-year time horizon and the entire district would be absorbed by the City. That did not occur within the period of the original 20-year agreement. The actual annexation history has been of undeveloped or underdeveloped properties--not existing residential properties. So residents occupying the new development are the primary beneficiaries of this agreement. Currently, City residents within this area have a higher level of service than other city residents since they can utilize RRPRD services as if they were in-district residents as well as participate in City services. No other City residents have this opportunity, including the much larger group of City residents in Santa Clara. There have been a number of changes in the state property tax laws in the past 20 years and the tax limitations are affecting both agencies. In 2003, the intergovernmental agreement was modified from a formula based on assessed value of annexed properties to a flat $100,000 per year payment. The district requested an increase to $200,000 beginning in FY09 so it can operate for a minimum of three years. The FY09 City of Eugene Budget continues the existing $100,000 payment for only one more year, with no further payments proposed. Generally, costs are rising faster than revenues and that has caused both the City of Eugene and the RRPRD to draw down reserves to maintain existing levels of service. The district currently has an assessed value of $407,895,219. The district has a permanent tax rate of $3.0559 and is expecting to receive $1,194,008in property taxes in the coming year. In five out of the last seven budget years, the district has not received a 3% property tax increase. This is due to annexations reducing the base number of properties. In addition, since nearly all new development occurs inside the City due to the Metro Plan policy, the district does not receive increases above the 3% allowed by Ballot Measure 50. As with the City, the district expenses have been increasing at a rate greater than 3% per year. The River Road Park and Recreation District 2008-09 Budget Message outlines the issues with their longer term financial outlook (see Attachment B). As a part of the River Road/Santa Clara Transition Project, the City contracted with ECONorthwest to perform a fiscal analysis of municipal services including Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services. One of the conclusions was that in 2004, River Road property owners were paying about $400 per year for parks and recreation services from the district while Eugene property owners were paying about $145 per year for the services being offered by the City (see Attachment C). An option that has been discussed with the district is to develop an intergovernmental agreement that calls for the transfer of staff from the district to the City and the district would use their property tax revenues to contract with the City for services to be provided to their residents. This would be similar to the agreement the City currently has with the River Road Water District whereby the City provides fire and emergency medical services for the district. Such an agreement would probably result in a move toward uniformity of fees between district and City residents and a potential reduction of service as the revenues to the district decrease. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080723\S080723A.doc The existing financial situation causes both the district and the City to have a structural imbalance with the growth in revenues not keeping up with the costs to maintain the current service system. Both agencies have been using reserves in the past few years to maintain services. No amount of transferred money will solve the structural problems. Annexation Policy The City Council last reviewed River Road/Santa Clara annexation strategy at a council work session on January 24, 2007. The council passed a motion which halted the practice of adding right-of-way to annexation requests in the River Road/Santa Clara area where such additions would create islands. The City of Eugene’s annexation policy is primarily derived from the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan General Plan (Metro Plan). There are seven themes or principles that are basic or fundamental to the entire Metro Plan. 6. The Metropolitan Plan is based on the premise that Eugene and Springfield, the two existing cities, are the logical providers of services accommodating urban levels of development within the urban growth boundary. One of the objectives in this section of the plan is to: 11 Identify methods of establishing an urban transition program which will eventually reduce service delivery inefficiencies by providing for provision of key urban services only by cities. The policies section addresses annexation specifically as follows: 16. Ultimately, land within the urban growth boundary shall be annexed to a city and provided with the required minimum level of urban services. While the time frame for annexation may vary, annexation should occur as land transitions from urbanizable to urban. 18. As annexations to cities occur over time, existing special districts within the urban growth boundary shall be dissolved. The cities should consider developing intergovernmental agreements, which address transition issues raised by annexation, with affected service districts. These policies have been implemented in both the City Code and Lane Code to require annexation before new development is permitted. All of the annexations in the past 20 years in the River Road area have been at the request of property owners, primarily to develop property. Most of the undeveloped properties have been annexed to the City. In recent years, most of the annexations have been single lots intended to be partitioned to allow additional development. It is highly unlikely that additional major annexations in the River Road area will occur under the current policy. The 2007 Oregon Legislature eliminated the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission and the responsibility for approving annexations transferred to the City on January 1, 2008. The City was scheduled to review the first two annexations under this process on July 14, 2008, neither of which is in the River Road area. There are no annexation requests currently pending in the River Road area. The transition from the Boundary Commission to the City eliminated the opportunity for non-contiguous Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080723\S080723A.doc annexations, which have comprised many of the recent annexations in the River Road area. It is likely that the pace of annexation will slow for this reason and because most of the underdeveloped land has already been annexed. It is unlikely that the entire area will ever be annexed to the City under the current policies. RELATED CITY POLICIES The City has no adopted strategy or plan for annexation of properties in the River Road area beyond the policies in the Metro Plan. The City has a value of ACCESSIBLE AND THRIVING CULTURE AND RECREATION. A community that recognizes that the arts and outdoors are integral to the social and economic well- being of the community and should be available to all . The City also has a value of having FAIR, STABLE AND ADEQUATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES. A government whose ongoing financial resources are based on a fair and equitable system of revenues and are adequate to maintain and deliver municipal services. COUNCIL OPTIONS 1. The City Council can choose to follow the current direction for a one-time payment of $100,000 to the district in the FY09 Budget and direct the City Manager to develop a work plan, and time line to explore a variety of partnership options between the district and City that identifies a long-term, sustainable strategy for the viable operation of the district until annexation occurs. 2. The City Council can choose to follow the current direction in the FY09 Budget to eliminate funding of the payment to the district in the FY10 Budget. This option is the current situation and choosing this option would not require any action by the Council. 3. The City Council can choose to direct the City Manager to negotiate a new intergovernmental agreement with the district for the FY10 fiscal year to continue the current level of funding ($100,000) in order to provide access to services for City residents living within the original district boundaries. 4. The City Council can choose to direct the City Manager to prepare an FY10 budget which increases the amount provided to the district to $200,000 as requested by the district. 5. The City Council can choose to direct the City Manager to develop a strategy, work plan and timeline for annexation of the entire River Road area including a recommendation on a transition plan for the district. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends Option 1. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080723\S080723A.doc SUGGESTED MOTION Move to direct the City Manager to follow the current direction for a one-time payment of $100,000 to the district in the FY09 Budget and to develop a work plan, and time line to explore a variety of partnership options between the district and City that identifies a long-term, sustainable strategy for the viable operation of the district until annexation occurs. ATTACHMENTS A. June 23, 2008, letter from Chairman Wayne Helikson to Mayor Kitty Piercy B. River Road Park and Recreation District 2008-09 Budget Message C. RR/SC Fiscal Analysis: Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (October 2004) D. Map of the River Road Area FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Jim Carlson/Renee Grube Telephone: 682-5524/682-5067 Staff E-Mail: james.r.carlson@ci.eugene.or.us Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080723\S080723A.doc