EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- Eugene City Council is moving toward a revised plan to cut two proposed city fee hikes in half.
Councilors voted in favor of a revised city service fee and a revised storm water fee hike proposal at a work session on Monday night, January 28. The changes come in response to recent public comment.
The city had proposed the fees as a way to help close its $6 million budget gap.
The revised plan does away with the Eugene City Manager's office's proposed city service fee of up to $10 dollars a month in exchange for a 5-year property tax levy proposal.
The levy would still need to be passed by a public vote. If it passes, property owners in the City of Eugene would be charged 28 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value. That would cost the average homeowner with a $150,000 home less than $50 per year.
Councilors also passed a plan to move forward with pursuing the second fee proposal, a shift in the city's storm water fees.
The storm water fee hike revision changes the cap on the proposed fee from up to $10 a month to up to $5 a month. The storm water fee would only need to be passed by Eugene City Councilors, not by a public vote.
Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz and his staff made the changes in response to numerous negative public comments against the possibility of up to $20 dollars worth of new fees per month under the original proposals.
The City of Eugene is trying to fill a $6 million budget gap. If both the newly-proposed property tax levy and the storm water fees change, the City would still be faced with a budget gap. City Manager Jon Ruiz says he would be wiling to look into using one-time money to fill the rest of the shortage.
"It's serious enough in my mind for the quality of life in the community that it's more important to move forward, with what . . . we believe is a good plan around with the storm water and parks maintenance and bridge across with one time money for a year or two,” said Jon Ruiz in the work session on Monday night.
Eugene City Council will hold a public hearing on the newly proposed 5-year levy next Monday night at 7:30 PM in Harris Hall at the Lane County Public Service Building.
