Eugene is facing a nearly $14 million budget shortfall over the next two years. City leaders are contemplating cutbacks and higher fees for city services.
During a workshop Monday night, city staff said inflation and staffing costs have grown far faster than Eugene’s revenue - the largest share of which is property taxes.
During that meeting, Mayor Lucy Vinis said the city might need more resources. She hopes two ideas - adding 80 cents a month to city stormwater fees, which are collected via EWEB's billing process, and charging a fire services fee based on building square footage - will help close that gap.
"There's concern about how much the taxpayers can withstand, and when are we overloading,” Vinis said. “But, at the same time recognizing that everybody is getting these services, everybody is paying a small amount of the increase so the overall reliability of the system is strengthened."
The stormwater funds, which would generate about $1 million, will go toward preserving parks.
The fire service fee, which would go toward next year’s anticipated deficit, would generate about $10 million.
About 20% of that funding would go toward boosting staffing at the fire department.
Councilor Randy Groves said fire staffing levels have stayed static for decades while call volume has drastically increased.
When adjusted for inflation, Eugene has fewer full-time employees per capita now than it did during the Great Recession, according to the city.
Groves said he would prefer a longer-term fix - like growing the property tax base - but said the city can’t afford to wait.
"I loath adding new fees on people who are already feeling maxed out,” he said. “But at the same time, I'm just not seeing any other good solutions."
About $4.5 million in budget cuts are also on the table.
During Monday’s meeting, Councilor Emily Semple asked if library funding, which already saw large cuts in previous budgets, would be on the chopping block.
City Manager Sarah Medary said the city anticipates $1.5 million in one-time cuts, such as leaving some positions vacant, and $3 million in longer-term reductions in spending. She said staff are still creating a final list.
“There’s little bits from each department to get there,” she said. “I don’t want to say there’s no impacts to the library, but we’ll be talking more about that when we get closer to the supplemental budget and finalize the list.”
The city is discussing other possibilities, such as selling surplus property and other small increases to service charges.
The city council will have a budget hearing in May and a vote will likely be scheduled in June. The proposed fire fee discussion may extend into next year and might not be a part of the June vote.
This article has been updated to clarify that funds from the proposed stormwater fee increase go to the city, not EWEB.
