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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/28/1992 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 28, 1992 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Bobby Green, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Randy MacDonald, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette, Roger Rutan. The adjourned meeting of September 23, 1992, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. EUGENE DECISIONS FINAL STRATEGY A. Review of ProDosals 1. Service Changes a. Public Safety Tony Mounts, Financial Management Services Director, reviewed the proposed' changes in the Department of Public Safety (DPS) with regard to Animal Control e and the Spay/Neuter Clinic. b. Recreation Services Mr. Mounts said that service changes in Recreation Services included fee increases in Athletics, Community Center, Outdoor Environmental programs, Senior Centers, and Swimming Pools. Mr. Boles recalled that the council had cleared community gardens as a family program with implementation of scholar- ships for low-income families. He wondered if the changes were adequate to meet the need, noting that the City has received letters indicating that the program is much more than a luxury to many people. Mr. Boles asked staff to monitor the program for a possible increase in scholarships. Mr. MacDonald suggested that staff research the possibility of turning over responsibility for the program to the Neighborhood Association Program to reduce costs to enable expansion. c. Parks Services Mr. Mounts said the strategy included reduction to maintenance for landscape and turf and grounds to neighborhood parks, transferring fees to the Road Fund. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 1 5:30 p.m. ------- - d. Development Services Mr. Mounts said the changes in Development Services include fee increases in Building Permits/Plan Checking, elimination of the Business Assistance Team, business license fee increase, reduction of business monitoring, reduction of $200,000 in Code Compliance, reduction in support to other agencies in Community Planning and elimination of the Annexation Program, elimination of General Fund (GF) support for downtown development activities, and a 50 percent increase for land use permits. e. Cultural Services Mr. Mounts said that the changes in Cultural Services included a membership program for the Hult Center, operational efficiencies, a reduced and privat- ized Sister Cities Program, and increased revenue for Eugene Celebration/ Special Events program. Responding to a question from Mr. MacDonald, Mr. Robinette said that there is uncertainty about the County Board of Commissioners going forward with an increase in the room tax--something that may force the City to pursue an increase on its own. Responding to questions, Mr. Mounts said that the strategy does not assume a revenue from that source. Mr. MacDonald expressed concern with continued funding of the Eugene-Spring- field Convention and Visitors Bureau and asked staff to flag the topic for discussion at the appropriate time. e 2. Enhancements Mr. Mounts said that the strategy enhanced core services to include affordable housing and community policing. Ms. Ehrman questioned including $.5 million in core services for community policing without funding the rest of DPS's Long-Range Plan. Mr. Rutan questioned the practice of funding community policing or any other program from anticipated savings. Ms. Ehrman moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to delete $500,000 for community policing from the core service package and consider the amount on the revenue side. Mr. Nicholson said that if the council feels that savings cannot be realized on the capital side by increasing capital maintenance by $1.8 million, then it ought not to follow his plan of funding community policing from savings. Mr. Gleason explained that, presuming the City creates a new budgetary system, the expectation is that changes will be accounted for in the baseline and any accrued savings will show as beginning cash balances. The issue of whether to target it now or later can be dealt with at another time, separate from the question raised by the motion. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 2 5:30 p.m. -- e Mr. MacDonald suggested leaving the program in the core as an incentive to pursue savings. He said it also challenges the council to garner public support for the program should an additional revenue source become necessary. The motion failed, 6:2; Ms. Bascom and Ms. Ehrman voting in favor. 3. Revenue a. Restaurant Tax Mr. Rutan said he favors the expanded definition of a restaurant, calling it an issue of fairness. He explained that grocery and other stores that sell prepared food are in direct competition with restaurants. Responding to a question from Mr. Robinette, Mr. Rutan said that the Revenue Committee discussed administration of such a tax and decided that the difficulty of collecting the tax depends on how well the ordinance is written. He noted that the larger supermarkets are better equipped than small restaurants to accommodate the tax. Responding to a question from Mr. Robinette, Mr. Mounts said that the issues that the council needs to decide to write an ordinance are the following: tax rate, yield estimate, administrative impact on businesses, compensation for collection of the tax, and definitions of "restaurant," "prepared meal ," and exemptions. e Noting the volume and complexity of issues involved, Mr. MacDonald suggested that the council close on the concept of a restaurant tax today and schedule discussion of the other details by the full council in a future meeting. Mayor Miller suggested that staff present the council with a list of items with regard to the restaurant tax to facilitate decision making by the full council. Mr. Nicholson urged the council to hold its discussion as soon as possible to avoid public confusion. Mr. Boles suggested the following staff directives: 1) use a broad definition of restaurant; 2) determine the associated administrative burden; and 3) estimate compensation for collection of the tax, based on gross receipts. Mayor Miller directed staff to report to the council on the following: tax rate, collection, scope, exemptions, administrative costs, and compensation for collection. He said other issues include the charter amendment, with a 5 percent limit. Mayor Miller added that timing is also a factor. Responding to a question from Mr. Nicholson, City Attorney Bill Gary said that a charter election can be held at any time, with 47 days notice to the County Clerk. Mr. Nicholson urged the council to hold the election as soon as e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 3 5:30 p.m. e technically feasible, noting it has undergone extensive public discussion already and it will avoid being in conflict with other ballot measures. Responding to questions, Mr. Gary said that the council has two options. One is to wait and adopt its election code revision, which is currently before the Citizen Involvement Committee. Or the council can declare an emergency in its resolution placing the measure on the ballot. The difference between the two approaches is that in the home-rule approach, the council is conducting the vote and it is required to be by mail, and it would likely be challenged by the Secretary of State. The statutory route is not subject to challenge, and the determination of whether an emergency exists rests with the City and also is not open to challenge. Mr. Robinette noted that the County Board of Commissioners hopes to put its serial levy on the March 1993 ballot. Responding to a question from Mr. Robinette, Mr. Gary said the council has three options: 1) Pass the implementing ordinance prior to the charter amendment vote. It would be subject to referendum, but the referendum would take at least 101 days to be put on the ballot from the date that it is passed; 2) Refer both the ordinance and charter amendment on the same ballot, preventing a subsequent referral; and e 3) Enact the ordinance after the charter amendment. This would not defeat a referendum, but force it after there has been a vote. Several councilors favored an early election. A straw vote revealed that Ms. Bascom, Ms. Ehrman, Mr. MacDonald, and Mr. Nicholson preferred holding an election before March. Mayor Miller asked staff to include the shortest possible time line for an election on the checklist of issues for its meeting of September 30. b. Gasoline Tax Mr. Robinette felt the gas tax should be one cent on the gallon because that is what was presented to the public in Eugene Decisions. He added that the County Board of Commissioners is pursuing a countywide gasoline tax--another good reason for reducing the City's tax to one cent. Mr. Nicholson said that the council should put off consideration of a gas tax until it has settled on the restaurant tax. Mr. Rutan noted that the Revenue Committee presented the council with a list of issues regarding the gas tax. Important among those issues is competitive- ness among the three jurisdictions. He added that the council should give this tax the same level of consideration it gave to the restaurant tax. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 4 5:30 p.m. ------- e Ms. Bascom expressed agreement with Mr. Rutan's position. Mr. Boles said he favored a 2 cent/gallon tax for the following reasons: full cost of the automobile; substandard roads and alleys need repair; and the council can rescind the tax should the county be successful in passing a simil ar tax. Ms. Ehrman and Mr. MacDonald agreed with Mr. Boles. Other councilors expressed support for the council acting independently, noting that both the State and County could pull funding from the City. Mr. MacDonald expressed concern with the surplus in the County Road Fund, saying it jeopardizes the subsidy from the State. He noted that if the City received a fair share of the fund, it would not have a problem funding transportation. Mr. Nicholson expressed support for Mr. Robinette's suggestion to reduce the gas tax to one cent per gallon. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Robinette, to adjust the strategy by reducing the gas tax from two cents to one cent, with the one cent becoming effective December 1, 1992. Ms. Bascom favored dealing with the issue in the intergovernmental arena, saying that a major portion of gas tax money is coming from the new Federal Service Transportation Act. e Mr. MacDonald reiterated his concern that the surplus in the County Road Fund jeopardizes any increase from the Oregon Department of Transportation to the area. Ms. Bascom said she would get the gas tax on the Metropolitan Policy Committee agenda for October 8. Mr. Rutan expressed concern with the council's approach, saying he favored negotiating with the County for a fairer share of the fund. The motion passed, 5:3; Ms. Bascom, Mr. Green, and Mr. Rutan voting against the motion. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Robinette, to adopt the Eugene Decisions strategy, as modified with respect to the gas tax. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 5 5:30 p.m. e Respectfully submitted, o/~ - Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) cc53028.092 e e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1992 Page 6 5:30 p.m.