Fire fee discussion at Morse Farm April 15

Presenter: The Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association, SHiNA, will sponsor a discussion about the proposed $10 million fire fee April 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Morse Farm. They’ll have a city councilor who supports the fee, the head of the city’s Budget Committee, and the CEO of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. For the neighborhood, Chris Jockheck:

Chris Jockheck (Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association): April 15—income tax day—6:30 p.m. to 8:00 or 8:30 p.m., we’re holding this in the shelter at Wayne Morse Farm. We have picnic tables to sit on for probably around 100 people. I would encourage people to come in person, especially if you want to be part of the discussion and ask a question.

[00:00:46] We are going to have Councilman (Matt) Keating, who represents most of our area, and then we have Tai Pruce-Zimmerman, who chairs the Budget Committee, and so he’ll be able to help us understand how we got to this particular proposal for the ‘fire fee,’ as it’s being called. And then Brittany Quick-Warner, who is the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, the group behind getting the signatures to put it to the ballot for the people to vote on.

[00:01:21] We’re going to have an interesting discussion, and so I’m hoping there’ll be a better understanding from those people in attendance of how government should work.

[00:01:32] We’re not going to solve it in an hour or two-hour session, because it is very complicated. I’m a proponent of local government in order to have a stable society. I was an elected official in Wisconsin, so I like to think that I know something about local government, and how it operates.

[00:01:51] A lot depends on the federal government and the funding, what happens there. And we don’t know from hour to hour or minute to minute. It’s just, it’s so scary that way. Because they could pull the funding and that’s a large part of the state’s budget and that filters down to local funding potential. And all of a sudden things are gone.

[00:02:15] Presenter: Chris is the former mayor of Marshfield, Wisconsin.

[00:02:18] Chris Jockheck: What’s interesting is Marshfield and Eugene and my hometown of West Hartford, Connecticut are all having public safety referendums because of funding issues. So it’s not unique to us by any means.

[00:02:35] Because the state limitations on what a city can do—as far as raising taxes, raising their own revenue—puts a real pinch on this. In Wisconsin, there are levy limits. It’s the same concept. And so we face the same issues, as you can only raise so much money and yet inflation, more projects, the unexpected projects, and so, we’re left in these binds.

[00:03:01] Every year you are falling farther and farther behind. The fire department has the same level of personnel as we did, 20, 30 years ago. They just haven’t increased over time. But just thinking about that is ridiculous, you know?

[00:03:23] And so, we’re constantly having to find ways of raising revenue in a creative way. And that creates a hardship to having a discussion. Because unless you’re involved, it’s really hard to understand all the discussions and the nuances of how to fund our local government.

[00:03:45] That’s what we’re trying to do. There has to be an understanding of why we’re in this position and be able to ask the questions to the representatives who will be there, the people that helped make the decision, led the discussion, and so we can see where the discussion has been and is going.

[00:04:03] Presenter: He said federal funding cuts and tariffs further complicate the discussion. From the Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association, Chris Jockheck:

[00:04:12] Chris Jockheck: The timing of all this is really unfortunate. I mean, if anyone is thinking about retiring, I wouldn’t do it. You’re thinking about changing a job, I wouldn’t do it. We don’t know from day to day, but how do you fund and provide for local government, state government, schools? 4J (School District) is running at a deficit. Where is that money going to come from?

[00:04:35] And that’s what I’m hoping comes out of this meeting. I really want this to be: Let’s have an understanding of how the city budgeting process works; how do we fund the government?

[00:04:48] Presenter: That’s Chris Jockheck from Southwest Hills, hosting a discussion on the city’s proposed $10 million fee. For more, see SWHillsEugene.com.