Eugene’s City Council is considering new fees in hopes of reducing the city’s carbon footprint.
At a meeting on Dec. 9, city staff shared their recommendation about what climate projects to prioritize in 2025, in order to work towards eliminating emissions from buildings in Eugene.
City Climate Policy Analyst Danielle Klinkebiel said some of the staff's proposed strategies would work within Eugene's current budget. This includes offering more energy audits for homes, developing a better communications strategy, and educating business owners.
However, she said the city would need more revenue in order to increase financial incentives for decarbonization, or retrofit more city-owned buildings.
City staff said to create new revenue, Eugene could adopt a levy or a climate impact fee on developers. Staff also discussed requiring more money from the gas utility NW Natural, either through a natural gas supplier tax or a franchise fee.
However, several City Councilors said they should proceed carefully. Councilor Randy Groves argued these increased costs could be passed down onto Eugene residents.
"With all these different financial things we're talking about, the increased cost on the individual needs to be looked at together," said Grove at Monday's meeting. "It's really easy to [say] ‘well, this is just this much, this one's just that much.’ But you put them together, and it's real money for people that can't always afford it.”
The City of Eugene is now anticipating a potential budget shortfall of up to $11.5 million for 2025.
Councilor Alan Zelenka said the city should start with small and simple decarbonization strategies. City Council plans to discuss the issue again in January.
Monday's meeting comes over a year after the failure of Eugene's proposed ban on natural gas hook-ups in new low-rise residential buildings. That drew pushback from an advocacy group backed by NW Natural, and councilors pulled the ban after a federal court struck down similar restrictions in California.