QuickTake:

Eugene City Council members are considering changes to a proposed fire service fee such as a sunset clause or an entirely different fee structure.

Months after they approved a fire service fee, Eugene city councilors are looking high and low for alternatives and other options.

The Eugene City Council talked Monday about possibilities, all with an eye toward looking for ways to address an annual $11.5 million gap in the city’s budget.

Councilors made no final decisions, but they directed city staff to bring back information about different scenarios. Those include: a sunset clause for the fire service fee, which could range from two to 10 years; a name change for the fee to better reflect where the money goes; or changes to the fee structure itself to take into account low-income residents rather than the current model, which is based on the square footage of property. 

At this point, nothing is off the table. 

“What I have heard loud and clear from the community is it’s not that people oppose the fire fee,” Councilor Randy Groves said in the meeting. “They are just sensing it feels like a bait and switch to them. I don’t think this was the intention.”

Councilors will discuss their options in greater detail again on Monday, April 28, but a potential decision will not happen until later.

It’s the latest chapter of a policy discussion that initially appeared to be settled Feb. 10, when the council passed the fire service fee, 5–3, to raise $10 million to bridge the $11.5 million gap for the fiscal year beginning July 1. 

Councilors intended for that February decision to be the final word. But the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce turned in more than 8,400 signatures to the city March 13, enough to put the fire service fee on the ballot.

The chamber’s petition gave city officials an array of possible options. They could reverse the decision to impose the fire service fee, negating the need for an election. They also have the option of whether to schedule the election for Aug. 26 instead of Nov. 4. If they do nothing, the measure goes to voters in November.

City councilors could also pass a separate proposal that goes to voters alongside the fire service fee proposal.

So far, the council has not made a decision on any of those options. City officials have until July 10 to file paperwork with Lane County if they want a special election in August.

Regardless of what lies ahead, city officials, including Mayor Kaarin Knudson, agreed that long-term solutions and community engagement are key for the city’s long-term budget stability. 

“What I’m focused on is trying to help bridge as many gaps as possible,” Knudson said after the meeting. 

At the same time, it’s unclear what the path forward may look like, or whether it will have enough support. For example, some councilors said, a sunset clause may make the fire service fee more palatable to city residents. 

But Councilor Eliza Kashinsky, for example, said a sunset clause would limit the usefulness of the fee, which was intended to be ongoing funding for long-term needs like a new fire squad.

Regardless of whatever they choose, there is no immediate – or easy – solution. 

“There isn’t some sort of magic bullet that’s going to be able to solve all the budget problems,” Kashinsky said.

Brittany Quick-Warner, CEO of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, told Lookout Eugene-Springfield after the meeting she’s pleased that the council is considering other options. 

“From the chamber and the business community’s perspective, we need to make sure the community has healthy services, but we also have to make sure we have a healthy budget,” she said, adding they welcome that conversation with the council.

Without a fire service fee, it’s unknown where the city would make cuts in its next budget. It could mean fewer city staffers, reduced hours for city services and its library or less maintenance at city parks. 

City officials will spend May working on the final budget before the new fiscal year starts. That budget will not include any money that could be raised by the fire service fee. The $11.5 million represents about 6% of the city’s operating budget.

The fire service fee, if enacted, would reduce potential cuts from $11.5 million to $3.5 million. It would raise $10 million annually. The fee would add $2 million to the Eugene Springfield Fire budget. 

That additional money would help fund a 24-hour squad, or two-person crew, to respond to medical emergencies and fires, especially in downtown Eugene where demand is high. The funding also would allow the department to devote three squads to wildfire responses.

The other $8 million raised by the fee also would be earmarked for the fire department — but that represents $8 million that the department wouldn’t need to pull from the city’s general fund. As a result, the fire service fee would free up $8 million in the general fund that could be used to fill budget gaps in other city departments.

If enacted, the fire service fee would be billed monthly to building occupants who pay the stormwater bill, regardless of whether they own the building. The fee, based on the square footage of a property, would cost as little as $3 a month to as much $1,752 a month. That’s from at least $36 to $21,024 a year. 

For the occupant of an average-size house of 1,501 to 2,500 square feet, the cost would be $10 a month, or $120 a year. The lowest $3 monthly rate would apply to property of 50 to 750 square feet. The highest monthly fee of $1,752 is for property with more than 300,000 square feet.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.