The proposal to create a Eugene Clean Energy Fund appeared to be ahead as initial returns rolled in on election night.
Around 58% of tallied votes were in favor of the ballot initiative, as of 8 p.m on Tuesday.
Measure 20-388 would require some large retailers and banks to pay a new annual licensing fee, equal to 2% of their gross profits in the city. The resulting revenue would be spent on clean energy projects.
A coalition of environmental groups have led the campaign effort, inspired by a similar policy that Portland voters passed in 2018.
They argue that billion-dollar companies should pay more to help make Eugene more climate resilient.
Dylan Plummer, a campaign advisor for the Sierra Club, said Monday that the campaign was on track to knock on 26,000 doors by the time polls closed.
They’d also raised more than $730,000. In the final weeks of the campaign, Eugene households received online advertisements and a flood of campaign mailers.
“Our organizations have been working on crafting the initiative and planning this campaign for a number of years,” Plummer told KLCC last week. “And in that time, we've been building up our war chest so that we have the funds to make sure that this campaign is successful.”
Opponents of the measure, led by the Stop the Hidden Tax on Eugene campaign, argued that the fee would be passed down to customers and the resulting revenue could be misused.
But they were unable to match the supporters in funding, with just $155,000 in reported fundraising as of Monday.
If the measure passes, the fee requirement would take effect in 2029.
