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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 4737 RESOLUTION NO. 4737 A RESOLUTION CALLING A CITY ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 5, 2002, FOR THE PURPOSE OF REFERRING TO THE LEGAL ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF EUGENE A MEASURE AUTHORIZING A FOUR-YEAR LOCAL OPTION LEVY TO SUPPORT YOUTH, INCLUDING SCHOOL- RELATED ACTIVITIES. The City Council of the City of Eugene finds as follows: A. The City has worked diligently in recent years to develop and strengthen partnerships to better address service gaps, to provide the maximum benefit to the community's youth and to make the most efficient use of public funds. The City Council also has adopted the following as one of its five Council Goals: Accessible and Thriving Culture and Recreation - A community that offers a wide variety of opportunities for positive cultural, recreational and educational development for all. B. On June 10, 2002, the City Council considered a City-sponsored funding measure to support youth activities, primarily through the funding of school-related services that will further the Council's goal and objectives described above. On July 24,2002, the City Council directed the City Manager to return a Resolution to the Council to place a measure on the November ballot establishing an $0.86/$1,000 local option levy to support youth, including school-related activities. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the levy, the Council directed city staff to work with staff from the Eugene and Bethel school districts to develop the most efficient and effective means of assisting the City's youth. C. Services to be funded by the levy should include: elementary music and physical education; school nurses; counselors and librarians; student activities and athletics; and youth services provided by the City. Each of these services, for the reasons described below, provide community wide benefits and complement other services provided by the City. D. The City of Eugene has long provided opportunities for young people to develop artistically. In recent years the Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Department has provided or cosponsored numerous live musical performances geared to youth audiences, and provided classroom instruction to encourage young people to learn about music and to play an instrument. When youth are actively involved in music classes the community of Eugene benefits from the outcomes associated with music education. Providing funds to the school districts for elementary music will further the City's efforts in this area. E. According to the President's Council on Physical Fitness, nearly half of all American youth aged 12-21 years of age are not vigorously active on a regular basis. The health and fitness of residents are key concerns for the City of Eugene Recreation Division. Regular participation in Resolution - 1 physical recreation is an effective means to achieving physical and emotional health on a community wide basis. The Recreation division has a long history of coordinating community sports field usage, has financially supported the development of community sports parks and is a leading source of financial support to the nonprofit sports community. Physical Education classes offered by schools have the potential to reach the largest maj ority of youth population and provide opportunity for youth to be active on a regular basis. F. There are many youth in the City of Eugene who do not have access to health care providers. Due to a lack of health insurance coverage, inadequate coverage, transportation issues and parental work schedules youth are not able to have their health care issues professionally addressed. Health care costs in the community increase when preventive and early detection health services are not available. The City of Eugene has provided financial support to nonprofit and school-based health care initiatives. LRCS has developed collaborations to provide various forms of health care in several alternative formats, i.e., street outreach, playground nurses, and providing health services at community centers. Providing funds to the school districts for school nurses will further support the City's efforts to ensure that all children receive adequate health care. G. The City has historically supported efforts to provide mental health services to the community at large. The City funds the Lane County Health and Human Services Commission, which provides mental health and social services to the community. LRCS staffhave also worked collaboratively with non-profit entities to address mental health issues of city residents attending LRCS programs. The City and school district counseling staff frequently share information concerning assessment and referral options. City staff utilizes school counseling staff as the first point of contact for mental health issues that are beyond the City's scope of services. Assisting in the funding school-based counselors will further support the City's efforts to ensure adequate mental health services. H. The City of Eugene Library supports several youth literacy programs within the community, i.e., The Summer Reading Program, the Bookmobile, and youth collections at all library sites. City and School District staff regularly share programmatic information and lend mutual support to community wide literacy endeavors. By providing funds to ensure school librarians in the Eugene and Bethel school districts, the City can further support the youth literacy programs within the City. I. The cost of providing prevention services are substantially lower than the cost of providing intervention services to local youth. The highest levels of juvenile delinquence occur between the hours of 3 :00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Youth who are not actively engaged in after school activities are at increased risk of problem behavior. The City of Eugene supports the development of neighborhood based after school activities to reduce the number of unsupervised youth. Working in collaboration with numerous nonprofit and school-based programs every neighborhood in Eugene has the ability to insure no child is home alone. Resolution - 2 J. A levy of $0.86/$1,000 of A V is expected to raise an average net amount of approximately $8.0 million per year for a total net levy of $31.5 million over the four year period. Funds generated by the levy should be distributed to the school districts based on the initial projections of assessed value and collection rates. The school district portion of the levy should be split between the districts based on their relative share of assessed value within the City of Eugene. Based on current projections the Eugene School District is expected to receive net revenues of approximately $24.4 million over the 4 year term. The Bethel School District is expected to receive net revenues of approximately $4.6 million. The balance of the levy, approximately 7% of the total, would be retained by the by the City to support City managed activities. K. Because both districts include property that is located outside of the City limits, some students attend the Eugene and Bethel schools who are not residents of the City. Since only city taxpayers will be paying for the levy, the City shall enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the school districts to ensure that levy funds are spent to benefit city residents to the greatest extent possible. L. It is the Council's intent that if the Legislature increases the amount of funding for students within the Eugene and Bethel school districts beyond the amount anticipated as of June 2002 for the four-year period, the amount of the levy should be proportionately reduced. Therefore, should the Legislature increase that funding, the City, as part of the annual budget process, shall levy less than $0.86 per $1,000 of assessed value. M. Charter and contracted alternative programs located within Eugene and Bethel school districts shall receive from the appropriate district an equitable amount of levy funds based on existing allocation formulas. NOW, THEREFORE, based upon the above findings, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EUGENE, a Municipal Corporation of the State of Oregon, as follows: Section 1. A city election is called for the purpose of referring to the legal electors of the City of Eugene a measure authorizing a four-year, $0.86/$1,000 of assessed value, local option levy for funding the development of school-based music and physical education classes, school-based nurses, councilors and librarians, school-based athletics and student activities, and city youth activities. Section 2. The City Council orders this city election to be held in the City of Eugene, Oregon, concurrently with the general election on the 5th day ofN ovember, 2002, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 254 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, and the ballots shall be counted and tabulated and the results certified as provided by law. Resolution - 3 Section 3. The City Recorder is directed to give not less than ten (10) days' notice of the city election by publication of one (1) notice in the Register Guard, a newspaper published in the City and of general circulation within the City. Section 4. If approved by the electors, the proceeds from the local option levy will be used only for funding the development of school-based music and physical education classes, school- based nurses, counselors and librarians, school-based athletics and student activities and city youth activities. Section 5. Findings K, L, and M are bound into this resolution. The foregoing Resolution adopted the 12th day of August, 2002. %~-I. z::/~ City Recorder Resolution - 4