How did we get here?
Revenues just can’t keep up with community needs.
This situation is rooted in property tax ballot measures from the early 1990s in which voters chose to cap property tax revenues. Without other revenue sources (like a sales tax), all 36 counties in Oregon have been faced with the challenge of addressing budget shortfalls. The budget problem is a result of funding City services with property taxes that only raise by a little while living in a world where expenses raise by a lot.
City services must rely on people, and we often face the rising costs of health insurance, cost of living adjustments, and the rising costs of doing business (materials, supplies, contracted services, etc.)
Many Cities have addressed this gap through a combination of levies - charges based on assessed value and paid with property tax bills, or operating fees - charges based on a set methodology and paid with utility bills.
Here's a brief timeline of the decisions made by City Council & Budget Committee:
June 22, 2021 City Council Meeting
The body adopted its 2021 Annual Goals; included among them was the following goal under City Government Capacity:
"Right-Size Services: Address insufficient resources by finding new sustainable funding sources: Looking for ways to bring additional revenue into the City's general fund."
Joint Budget Committee + City Council Meetings
Focused on sustainable resources, the city services charge was one of the options under consideration on, July 13 2021; August 10, 2021; and September 22, 2021.
The City Council and the Budget Committee recommended the city follow up on initiating a service fee, among other actions, to support general city services at its October 20, 2021, joint meeting.
November 9, 2021 City Council Meeting
Resolution 2021-55 regarding sustainable funding sources was adopted by the City Council which formalized the recommendation from the month before.
May 18, 2022 Budget Committee Meeting
The FY2022-23 budget was approved and did not include the City Services Charge.
Instead it was considered a "steady state budget" that required backfill from one-time funding sources, like funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, and all add packages for improving core services. Capital investments and maintenance projects were stripped out.
June 28, 2022 City Council Meeting
Resolution 2022-51 passed, removing the $1.8 million in ARPA that were alloted to supporting general services.
