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HomeMy WebLinkAbout251208 WSMINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session Eugene, Oregon 97401 December 8, 2025 5:30p.m. Councilors Present: Eliza Kashinsky, Matt Keating, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Greg Evans, Lyndsie Leech, and Randy Groves Mayor Knudson opened the December 8, 2025, work session of the Eugene City Council in a hybrid format at 500 E 4 th Avenue, North Building, Eugene OR 97401. 1. WORK SESSION: Long Range Financial Stability-Technical Advisors City Manager Sarah Medary introduced Assistant City Manager Matt Rodrigues, Chief Financial Officer Twylla Miller, Anne Marie Levis, consultant with Funk/Levis & Associates, and Greg Irwin, chair of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), and provided background on the community panel's work to examine the City's long-range financial outlook. Councilor Discussion: • Councilor Keating -asked for examples of potential state-level reforms referenced in the long-range recommendations; asked why the draft recommendation says new revenue should be evenly shared across the community and not target small groups; stated interest in how progressive versus broad-based approaches to new revenue would be weighed; asked for clarification on recommendations about reducing employee costs; noted concern about outsourcing core municipal services; asked if the group would reconvene in the future. • Councilor Groves -noted interest in strategies for prioritization of services; noted a desire to balance business recruitment with support for existing local businesses. • Councilor Clark -noted interest in specific, tactical recommendations; asked for information on regulatory barriers that could be removed to support growth; asked if they compared City policies to those of other communities. • Councilor Kashinsky-noted concern that Oregon's property tax system does not fully reflect new value created; asked how economic development would translate into sufficient general fund revenue under those constraints; asked what short-term strategies could address a likely near-term budget gap; noted current budget allocations already mirror core service priorities. • Councilor Yeh -stated support for forming an economic development strategy advisory team; asked what gaps exist in the local business ecosystem; stated she wants recruitment to complement existing firms; asked how core services would be defined; asked how the community would be meaningfully involved in that process. MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session December 8, 2025 Page 1 • Councilor Zelenka -noted Eugene residents receive strong value for their tax dollars; stated that core services should align with Eugene's competitive advantages; stated interest in economic development and youth opportunities; asked if there is target dollar amount for annual new revenue from economic outcomes. • Councilor Leech -asked why farmworkers were not included in the employment numbers; asked if there is a significant difference between Eugene and Springfield's employment numbers; asked if the numbers reflected residents employed versus jobs located in the city; asked how a future advisory group should be structured; stated support for aligning the City's strategic plan to include economic prosperity; noted enthusiasm for partnerships with the University of Oregon to leverage local innovation. • Councilor Evans -noted the information about employment lag, negative natural population growth, housing costs outpacing incomes, and education performance reflect his lived experience; asked how Eugene can retain University of Oregon graduates and create family-wage jobs; asked how to better leverage assets like local universities and the Eugene airport. • Councilor Keating -asked how the City will define core services and whether contracted programs count; asked what Eugene can learn from Durham, North Carolina's Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART) program; asked what Eugene can learn from the Raleigh-Durham area. • Councilor Groves -asked for an early release for the TAG report to allow more time for review; stated it would be useful to Council to review the video of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce's Economic Summit, including the Mayor's dialogue with President Scholz and analysis by John Tapogna, as preparation for the February meeting; stated optimism that the community is ready for the necessary conversation. • Councilor Zelenka -asked how to align the budget with core priorities given fund restrictions and a zero-sum general fund environment; noted changing allocations requires cuts elsewhere; asked for a plan to flesh out operational efficiencies and reductions in the next iteration of the advisory group; stated governments must operate under strict constraints unlike businesses, making efficiency harder. • Councilor Evans -stated that cities can go bankrupt without visionary management; noted the need to invest in facilities and infrastructure; noted rising Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and health insurance costs are significant given the percent of the budget dedicated to labor. • Councilor Yeh -asked about the plans for community education and outreach; stated short informational videos and other materials and could help residents understand the issues. • Mayor Knudson -stated the process was highly valuable; thanked TAG members for their work and for proposing an economic development advisory team; noted this effort will guide Council's upcoming work on long-term financial stability. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session December 8, 2025 Page 2 Respectfully submitted, City Recorder (Recorded by Cherish Bradshaw) Link to the we beast of this City Council meeting here. MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session December 8, 2025 Page 3