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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/23/1992 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 23, 1992 11 :30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Bobby Green, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette, Roger Rutan. The adjourned meeting of September 22, 1992, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. Ms. Bascom introduced Kevin Kelly, U.S. Bank. She also recognized Larry Hedberg, Greg Evans, Joe McKuen, and Bill Bower. Mayor Miller read the following document and presented the award to Mr. Kelly: "The Eugene City Council is pleased to formally acknowledge and commend an extraordinary performance by U.S. Bank programs to further Eugene's economic vitality and quality of life. U.S. Bank has provided financial backing for a number of key projects, which in addition to being sound investments are responsive to the needs e of this community. U.S. Bank clearly deserves accolades for exemplary cooperative citizenship. Activities we feel demonstrate this responsiveness include: l. A commitment to provide $4,275,000 in first mortgage financing for the initial building of the Riverfront Research Park. This joint project of the City and the University of Oregon will sig- nificantly further the economic diversification goals for this community. 2. A $200,000 first mortgage to enable the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation to purchase and reopen the last remaining supermarket in the Whiteaker neighborhood. This Red Apple Market is pivotal in preserving the livability of the neighborhood as well as furthering the principle of community-owned economic development projects. 3. A $227,000 loan to S.P.O.N.S.O.R.S., Incorporated for the construction of ten units of housing for ex-offenders. U.S. Bank's early commitment to the project enabled the not-for-profit to proceed with the project on a timely basis. 4. A commitment to be both anchor tenant and an equity partner in a major new office building downtown. This will be the first new e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 1 11:30 a.m. e office building constructed in a downtown urban renewal district in 20 years. In addition to these important projects, it's important to note that U.S. Bank was cited as having an outstanding record of meet- ing community credit needs in its first and most current Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluation, and deserves kudos for being the first bank in the northwest to achieve this outstanding rating from the Comptroller of the Currency. Thank you for these efforts. We commend you as Bank of Oregon for demonstrating that being a profitable private business and being highly responsible to the community are complementary concepts. Sincerely, the City Council." Mr. Kelly thanked the council for the award, saying the bank hoped this was just the beginning. I. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR. CITY COUNCIL. AND CITY MANAGER A. Northwest Coalition Aqainst Malicious Harassment Conference Mr. Green displayed and distributed a poster for the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment Conference. e B. Hult Center's 10th Anniversary Ms. Bascom noted that this is the Hult Center's 10th Anniversary. C. Comorehensive Housinq Affordability Strateqy Ms. Bascom reported on the meeting of the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, saying the group decided not to change its priorities. D. Golden Gardens Ms. Bascom pointed out that the council has received a memorandum on Golden Gardens in response to Mr. Boles' request. Mr. Boles noted that the memoran- dum did not address all the issues he raised. Ms. Bascom suggested that concerns about the preceding be discussed with staff to avoid impeding the project. II. WORK SESSION: EUGENE DECISIONS Mayor Miller recalled that at the end of last evening's meeting the council was divided on two similar tax proposals. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 2 11:30 a.m. e Tony Mounts, Financial Management Services Director, distributed copies of the tax proposals. Option 1 offers a 2.5 percent restaurant tax to fund core services or core capital. Option 2 sets the same rate, but calls for a 5 percent cap for funding core services and additional increments for voter approved purposes. Both options call for referral, as charter amendments, and both have a 10-year sunset. Ms. Ehrman initiated discussion by asking those favoring Option 1 to give their thoughts on funding for enhancements--alternatives to Option 2. Mr. Rutan stated his opposition to a restaurant tax but assured the council he will not be unconstructive of the council's process, saying he did not want his participation in the discussion to be construed as supporting the tax. He expressed concern with the community's perception of the proposal, specifical- ly as it relates to what is going to get funded. Mr. MacDonald expressed support for Option 1, saying strategies for the library and fire stations can be developed in consultation with interested parties. Responding to a questions from Ms. Ehrman and Mr. Nicholson, he said the council should concentrate on funding core services and commit to doing the other projects later, developing the details as it becomes relevant. Mr. Robinette said he liked the property tax for funding of fire stations. He felt it unwise, however, to have such a measure on the same ballot as one for core services or a State tax. With regard to the library, he felt it impor- tant to support the private fund raising effort underway. Mr. Robinette felt e Option 2 added confusion to the election and allowed opponents to argue that the City Council does not yet know what to do with tax proceeds. Mr. Boles disagreed that the public is incapable of understanding Option 2. He said that Option 1 precludes the use of a restaurant tax for anything other than the core, eliminating an important source of revenue for other projects. Mr. Nicholson said the only difference between the two proposals is that Option 1 requires a charter amendment to make changes in the tax rate, while Option 2 would require a vote outside of the charter. He felt the council should decide on the basis of which proposal is the most responsible, long- term approach to the problem. Ms. Bascom said it is an issue of what is the best chance of succeeding at the polls on an initial restaurant tax vote. She felt that the simpler the explanation and tie to services, the better chance the council has to win the initial vote. Ms. Ehrman felt it important to be "out-front" with the community now about how the funding will be used, saying one tax is better than two or three. She reiterated that the projects in Option 2 would be unnamed, and put to the voters at the appropriate time. Saying that there are many people for whom the library is very important, Mr. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 3 11:30 a.m. e Nicholson pointed out the political advantage of Option 2. He also expressed concern with what he termed overuse of the charter amendment process. Mr. Boles appealed to those councilors leaving the City Council to put the context around the decision in a much longer time frame than the council has historically done, saying Option 1 binds the hands of the new council with respect to the restaurant tax as a source for other projects; or, putting the council in the position of going for double charter changes. Responding to Ms. Bascom's concern that passing a restaurant tax will take multiple votes, Ms. Ehrman pointed out that the City's consultant has said that the information received through the Eugene Decisions process is statis- tically valid and can be equated to voters. Therefore, the vote should be successful the first time out. A straw vote revealed the following: Support for Option 1 from Ms. Bascom, Mr. MacDonald, and Mr. Robinette; the other councilors favoring Option 2. Saying that the process of landing on an option has been scrupulously fair, Mr. Nicholson said that he, like Mr. Rutan, will support the council majority. Mr. MacDonald said he is also willing to move with the council majority, and will campaign for balancing the budget. He commended Ms. Ehrman for bringing forth an imaginative proposal. e Ms. Bascom expressed a willingness to facilitate council consensus and asked for an explanation of what would be put before voters. Mayor Miller explained that voters are asked to approve a 2.5 percent restaurant tax to fund the core package of services (or core capital). In addition, there will be a cap set in the charter that the tax cannot increase beyond 5 percent, but that the differential must go before the voters, with a specific project attached. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Bascom, to adopt Option 2 with the understanding that Option 2 is adopted as the theme and staff will provide additional material to enable the council to refine the proposal. The motion includes deletion of the specific sunset, merely stating "with a sunset." Mayor Miller explained that the motion is a directive to staff to bring back to the council a charter amendment that will reflect the intent of Option 2, including decision points. The council decided to leave the decision open for about a week. Mr. Rutan noted that the Chamber Revenue Tax Force is scheduled to complete its work on September 28. City Attorney Bill Gary received clarification that the staff directive requires the preparation of two measures. One is a charter amendment for the council to vote on to refer to the voters, consistent with Option 2. The e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 4 11:30 a.m. e other is the implementing legislation. Mr. Gary assumed that the council wishes to have decision points on fine details with respect to the tax. He explained that if the council adopts the tax in an ordinance, it would be subject to a referendum. He did not recommend putting tax details in the charter because there would be exemptions. Mr. Gary recommended that the charter amendment say that a 2.5 percent tax may be adopted by the council without further vote of the people. This would not necessarily prevent a referral of that measure. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. City Manager Mike Gleason explained that in the charter language the council will be prohibiting itself the authority to enact the tax. The council decided to review this decision at its September 28 meeting, and begin dealing with the other issues. Mr. Boles said that the public will want to know what the council plans to do if it is not able to marshall revenue associated with the shortfall. He added that the council still needs to share information (Round 3) with the public on how it closed on this decision. Mr. Robinette suggested that the Eugene Decisions Committee work on these two tasks and make recommendations to the council as soon as possible. Mr. MacDonald listed the following as issues requiring council discussion: review the Eugene Decisions process; address organizational change; close on e items that were postponed at the beginning of the process; determine addition- al revenue sources, including time line and consideration of other juris- dictions; and close on Monday on a proposal for disseminating public informa- tion. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Gary said a charter amendment vote can be done at any election date unless it is included with measures that require a general election. He pointed out that if the council adopts the initiative and referendum measure, it includes a provision that authorizes the council to conduct its own election on any day it chooses. Mr. MacDonald urged the council to postpone a vote on the proposed tax if the State Legislature chooses to put a tax reform on the same ballot. Mr. Rutan said the council should be prepared to address the question of what happens to the City's restaurant tax should the State pass a sales tax. He also credited the Eugene Decisions process with bringing the community's level of awareness and understanding of government higher than it has ever been. Responding to a Question from Mayor Miller, Barb Bellamy, City Manager's Office, said that January 22, 1993, is the deadline for filing a measure with the county for a March election. The council agreed to postpone the discussion to September 28. The agenda e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 5 11:30 a.m. e will include discussion of a gas tax. The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~ Mi ch al ~ eason City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) cc113023.092 e e MINUTES--City Council Work Session September 23, 1992 Page 6 11 :30 a.m.