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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2C: Ratification of IGR Actions of 09/24/08 ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of September 24, 2008 Meeting Date: November 10, 2008 Agenda Item Number: 2C Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-8441 ISSUE STATEMENT This is an action item to ratify the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee meetings of September 24, 2008. BACKGROUND As a matter of procedure, the City Council is routinely asked to ratify the actions taken by the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee. This is done by submitting the minutes of each committee meeting to the council. RELATED CITY POLICIES Ratification of IGR Committee actions is the making or affirming of the City of Eugene’s policy with respect to Federal and State legislative issues or such other matters as may come to the council from the committee. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may ratify or decline to ratify the IGR Committee’s actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends ratification of the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the IGR Committee Minutes of September 24, 2008. ATTACHMENTS A. IGR Committee Minutes of September 24, 2008 Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081110\S0811102C.doc FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson Telephone: 682-8441 Staff E-Mail: brenda.s.wilson@ci.eugene.or.us Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081110\S0811102C.doc ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon September 24, 2008 1 p.m. PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Chair; Andrea Ortiz, members; Kitty Piercy, Mayor; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Mumme, staff. ABSENT: George Poling, member. 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Taylor called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order at 1:23 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes from September 10, 2008, Meeting Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Ms. Taylor moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations held on September 10, 2008. The motion passed unani- mously, 2:0. 3. Discuss Legislative Policies Document Ms. Ortiz indicated that she had reviewed the document and approved of it. Ms. Taylor noted that she had felt it was complete after the review of the previous meeting. Ms. Wilson stated that she had highlighted the items that she needed staff to update and they had been doing this. She said once this information was in she would provide the document for a final review by the CCIGR prior to taking it to the City Council. Mayor Piercy thought the Legislative Policies Document looked very good. She asked what Ms. Wilson’s intention was to “emerge” the top things the City wanted to get done. Ms. Wilson responded that those lay in the document. Mayor Piercy asked if those legislative priorities were different from those of the League of Oregon Cities (LOC). Ms. Wilson responded that they might be, but they would determine those differences and similarities after the document was completed and approved. Ms. Wilson said the CCIGR might want to review some of the positions the City took on bills from the 2007 session because they might want to retain some of them as priorities. She noted that this had only been done in the past with positions taken on public safety. She stated that she was compiling a list, including Senate Bill (SB) 1145, and other things that staff had brought forward such as a proposed requirement to wear a personal flotation device when MINUTES—Council Committee on September 24, 2008 Page 1 Intergovernmental Relations floating in an inner tube. She said Systems Development Charges (SDCs) for public safety would be a “huge multi- session effort.” Mayor Piercy asked if there was interest from any other jurisdiction on that issue. Ms. Wilson replied that there had been in the past, but they realized that it would be a fight against the Home Builders Association (HBA). Ms. Ortiz recalled the house bill that had been presented in the last session that had affected the “face of how we do things.” She asked if Ms. Wilson knew of anything brewing in the jurisdictions around Eugene that would affect the City like the bill regarding Springfield had affected it. She commented that Springfield had brought the bill forward and she had felt surprised by it as she had not known of the bill previous to its introduction. Ms. Wilson replied that Springfield had assured her that another bill like House Bill (HB) 3337 would not come before the Legislature. Mayor Piercy opined that this was the City of Springfield “carrying the HBA’s waters.” She related that Bill Morrisette had told her that Springfield had wanted to separate its Urban Growth Boundary for a long time. She disagreed with the characterization that the bill was a result of Eugene being “difficult to work with.” Ms. Wilson reported that the Cities of Portland and Springfield had tried to remove Eugene from the grandfathering in the LOC Gross Revenue Telecom Tax Bill. She underscored that this would be a $2.4 million reduction in city revenue per year. Mayor Piercy asked why the cities wanted to do that. Ms. Wilson expressed surprise that Springfield had chosen to weigh in on it. She speculated that it was for personal reasons. She explained that they had tried to include a modified grandfather clause that would allow Eugene to collect at the same rate the rest of the State would be able to collect at and then if Eugene wanted to collect at its current rate it could go back out and get the additional amount. She said she had met with Portland staff the previous week and Portland had agreed to drop that issue, but it now looked like the LOC was considering dropping the concept all together. She related that this meant that if the industry proposed a bill that sought to eliminate the tax on wireless services, the City now had no defense strategy. She noted that the defense strategy had been the bill with Eugene grandfathered in, which the CCIGR had been neutral on. She underscored that since the bill was not going to be introduced the City had no defense if industry introduced their own bill. Ms. Ortiz asked what the City needed to do to ensure this did not happen. Ms. Wilson replied that they needed to make sure that all of the cities developed a defense strategy. She reported that she had asked for that and Portland had agreed. She explained that in the previous bill Eugene did not have anything to gain and the rest of the cities had “everything to gain.” Ms. Ortiz asked why the LOC decided not to put the bill forward. Ms. Wilson responded that the LOC did not believe that they could pass the bill without a referral strategy, which was the money to fight a referral. She noted that this would cost approximately $2 million and would be difficult to defend given that the bill would increase people’s cell phone bills. In response to a follow-up question from Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Wilson stated that the City already had moved the bill to a Priority One Support status, but now the City would have to switch its strategy to the defensive to protect what they already had. She noted that the cities that collected the tax included Cottage Grove, Veneta, and Creswell. Mayor Piercy asked why Springfield wanted to get into the bill. Ms. Wilson responded that several committees had been put together to work on the bill, including a legal drafting committee. She said the first draft had come out without Eugene being grandfathered in. She intended to ask the person who had drafted the bill why this was. Mayor Piercy stated that they did not want to be surprised by any legislation. MINUTES—Council Committee on September 24, 2008 Page 2 Intergovernmental Relations 4. Items from Committee and Staff Mayor Piercy asked if there was something the City of Eugene wished to say to the Big Look Task Force when the presentation came to Eugene on September 26. Ms. Wilson said it was her understanding that the task force planned to present the beginnings of the work to the Legislature on the following day, September 25. In response to a follow-up question from Mayor Piercy, Ms. Wilson explained that the task force was not taking testimony on the recommendation; it was taking public input in a broad general sense. Mayor Piercy asked if city representatives should speak at the public meeting. Ms. Wilson responded that the event was not for the purpose of refining it. She said the task force did not have anything at this point to give comment on. Mayor Piercy suggested that if there were one or two things that Eugene wanted to “get in the hopper” this could be the opportunity. Ms. Wilson said she would check with the staff working on the project. Ms. Wilson added that the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) was in the process of hiring two new staff people to take care of the land use claims that had arisen from Ballot Measures 49 and 37 and that the DLCD was gearing up for the recommendation of the Big Look Task Force. Ms. Taylor thought the task force event was intended to solicit input from individuals. She thought the Mayor could attend and provide input. The committee scheduled the next meeting for October 22 at 1 p.m. Ms. Taylor adjourned the meeting at 1:45 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Council Committee on September 24, 2008 Page 3 Intergovernmental Relations