A new Fire Service fee in Eugene is facing a challenge from local business leaders.
Eugene City Council passed the fee earlier this month. It's meant to help close the city's projected $11.5 million budget shortfall, and to avoid widespread cuts to city programs this summer.
The fee is based on the square footage of a property. It will cost a median household about $10 per month, and a median commercial space less than $40 per month, according to city estimates.
Now, the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce is leading an effort to force a referendum on the fee, giving voters the opportunity to reject it.
Chamber President Brittany Quick-Warner said the public should have a voice about what they want to pay—particularly because this charge doesn't have a built-in end date.
Quick-Warner also argued this fee is only a Band-Aid fix, and won't address the city's structural budget issues.
She said the city needs to have more thorough discussions with the business community and other leaders about the path to a priority-based budget.
“There's a lot of programs that our community has implemented over the last decade that maybe they need to be cut or scaled back," said Quick-Warner. "And that conversation is really difficult to have, but that's what we believe as a community we need to be having holistically.”
On Tuesday, supporters of the Fire Service fee gathered at the downtown location of the Eugene Public Library, asking the public not to sign the referendum petition.
City Councilor Eliza Kashinsky said she hasn't seen any alternatives to this new fee.
"The cuts that were the easy cuts, that were the ones that we could all say, 'yeah, maybe we don't actually need that'—those happened years ago," said Kashinsky. "What is left is services that our community relies on."
At Tuesday's press conference, local service providers also expressed concerns about their futures without a fire fee.
Linda Ague, the President of Friends of the Eugene Library, said it has been decimated by past budget reductions.
"The library has worked very hard to make sure that the public doesn't notice all of the things that are going on inside the library because of those last cuts," said Ague. "You will definitely notice what happens next."
Cary Lieberman, Executive Director of Greenhill Humane Society, told KLCC the nonprofit could have to cut down on services for stray dogs.
"$10 a month is less than the cost of Netflix a month. It's less than many of us spend weekly on coffee," Lieberman said. "It is negligible in comparison to everything that we could lose if we don't come together and support this."
Other city programs that could see cuts include homeless assistance, park maintenance, and emergency services.
Deadlines
The petitioners have until March 13 to collect just over 5,800 valid signatures.
The deadline to get the referendum on the May ballot has already passed, but it could be included in the November election, or in a special election.
If the referendum makes it to the ballot, the city may need to start cutting services before the vote takes place.
That's because budget officials may not know how much funding they will have before the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
