Council asked to consider a fire district during January budget workshops

Presenter: With the budget gap now up to $11.5 million, the City Council is asking to reset priorities for Eugene’s priority-based budget.

And after the city tried using the Fire Department’s brand to promote an unpopular fee, one councilor wants to talk about an independent fire district. On Dec. 11, former Fire Chief and current City Councilor Randy Groves:

[00:00:22] Councilor Randy Groves: I know there’s people that are not going to like this, but the reality is, I hear a lot of people talking about, ‘Oh, a fire district would be horrible and it’s more important that we keep it part of the city and the city will take good care of the Fire Department.’

[00:00:34] I don’t think we’ve proven that. I don’t think we’ve proven that at all. And, you know, that would be another way of looking at this. Maybe we offshore fire services to another system, which also has an elected board to oversee it. So I just want that in the conversation as well.

[00:00:52] Presenter: The city reported that the gap now exceeds the $10 million in the original fee proposal. City Manager Sarah Medary:

[00:01:00] Sarah Medary (Eugene, city manager): As we head into January, the very base I think that I would recommend that we are solving for is $9.8 million. And I’m going to add some things to it… we’re looking at about an 11 and a half million dollar, um, 11 and a half million, 11 and a half million-dollar gap.

[00:01:19] Presenter: Several councilors look forward to a deeper dive into the budget, which would allow them to set priorities. Councilor Mike Clark:

[00:01:27] Councilor Mike Clark: So, if we were looking at having a, for example, a more of a priority-based budgeting discussion, we would need a more granular look. That would be my need moving forward, just FYI, you know, that’s my comment: That I would prefer having that more granular discussion of priorities before taking a next step.

[00:01:54] Presenter: Councilor Randy Groves.

[00:01:55] Councilor Randy Groves: I still am very eager to have the prioritization discussion because we’re going to need it, whether we implement the fire service fee or not. This is going to be an ongoing problem as long as Oregon taxation stays the way it currently is. You know, our revenue stream continues to be constrained and not keeping pace with inflation and costs. So I think we’re going to have to have that conversation sooner rather than later and I think it’s good that we get on it, regardless what we do with the fire services fee.

[00:02:29] So, I’m really looking forward to more discussion. I really want to see the more granular look at some of these areas of our budget, as Councilor Clark brought up. And we just don’t have a choice of not doing something. We need to just prepare ourselves as best we can.

[00:02:47] Presenter: Councilor Lyndsie Leech.

[00:02:48] Councilor Lyndsie Leech: Let’s get the full picture. Let’s look at the priorities. Councilor Groves, I agree, I think it’s really important for the community to see right now: What are our priorities as a community? How are we going to address the challenges that we all see every single day? And how does that fit within our budget? So, I really appreciate this process, and … I think it’s a very necessary thing that we’re about to embark upon.

[00:03:11] Presenter: Councilor Jennifer Yeh:

[00:03:13] Councilor Jennifer Yeh: I’m going to agree with Lyndsie and I do look forward to having an open conversation with our community. I think having it in this kind of open forum will be very useful for folks to really be able to dig in and see where their dollars are going and all the important things that the city does that we often take for granted.

[00:03:31] Presenter: Mayor Lucy Vinis:

[00:03:32] Mayor Lucy Vinis: I guess what I’m worried about is, if the Council decides not to proceed on creating a new revenue source as described, and so you accept that you’re going to make these cuts this year: What does that actually mean in outlying years, if you have failed to fund these things in this biennium, what are the implications for the following biennium? And then beyond that.

[00:03:53] Presenter: City Manager Sarah Medary:

[00:03:55] Sarah Medary (Eugene, city manager): We’ll have these conversations with you in January, and my hope was that if we’re building a budget that has reductions that I have just enough time (and we’re going to be pushing the limits) to understand your priorities going into that so that whatever we put in at the end of January reflects kind of what we’ve heard the majority of this group say.

[00:04:20] We have to put that in place. So, you know, if there’s not a fee, we will put that in place because there’s not an option not to.

[00:04:29] Presenter: The City Council is asked to discuss an independent fire district during its budget workshops in January. Some community members are already studying the budget, which is divided into community programs and internal programs.

For example, one internal program asks for $652,000 to send a department newsletter, annual report, and email messages to its own employees. The “Central Services Communications Program” is one of about six dozen so-called ‘governance’ programs listed on cleargov.com.

Take a look and let us know where you think the city can save money. Contact the KEPW Newsroom at (541) 632-3692, to share your thoughts on the city budget. That’s (541) 632-3692.

[00:05:23] Workshops are currently scheduled for two consecutive Wednesday work sessions, Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 at noon.