Eugene City Council approved a plan Wednesday to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into economic development.
Councilors asked city staff to set aside funding in this year’s supplemental budget for three new jobs: a housing development manager, a business development manager, and a business development analyst.
They also approved a recommendation to use existing funding to hire for a vacant development liaison position.
City Council is expected to vote on a final supplemental budget later this year.
Eugene’s Community Development Director Will Dowdy told councilors the added staff could help streamline city systems and create new programs to attract, retain and enhance businesses.
City staff say these changes would cost an additional $800,000 per year, but could generate another $25 million in new tax revenue within ten years.
“This is what we see as the opportunity, an aggressive yet achievable goal,” said Dowdy at Wednesday’s meeting.
Councilors Mike Clark, Randy Groves, and Jennifer Yeh voted for the proposal, while Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson cast the tie-breaking vote in favor.
Clark said even though he had concerns about spending more money in a budget crisis, this seemed like a good first step towards recovery.
“This is the only way for us to move forward in a healthy fashion. That’s it,” said Clark. “We have no hope, in my opinion, of getting ourselves off the road to bankruptcy unless we have a very clear plan about how we will grow our local economy.”
Three councilors—Matt Keating, Lyndsie Leech, and Eliza Kashinsky—voted against the proposal. Kashinsky said she wanted to have more context about the broader budget when making the decision.
“I do feel like this is a little bit out of order,” said Kashinsky. “While I see the value to the community as a whole, for the economic development efforts, I think everybody agrees it's not a short-term fix.”
Two city councilors, Alan Zelenka and Greg Evans, left the meeting before the proposal was put forward to a vote.
For the next biennium’s budget in 2027, the city forecasts that it will need to reduce the budget by $2 million.
