QuickTake:

Eugene’s 16-member budget committee started the task of working on a two-year budget recommendation as the city faces a financial cliff.

Eugene city leaders face an uncertain path forward as they plan a new budget that could lead to the shuttering of Amazon pool, reduced days at the city’s downtown library and trims to other services. 

Eugene’s 16-member budget committee Wednesday started the task of going through the two-year budget recommendation from city staffers — one that looks for a way to plug an annual $11.5 million shortfall. 

The recommended cuts are sweeping and include: permanently closing the Amazon pool in October, after the summer season; closing the downtown library on Sundays and Mondays, with Sunday service added at the Sheldon and Bethel branches; and closing the Sheldon Community Center. They also include cuts to homeless services, downtown beautification work and ending the animal welfare services contract with Greenhill Humane Society. The nonprofit, which serves Lane County, works with other communities and the public and is not solely a city-funded operation.

Committee members said they recognized the seriousness of the situation and the impact of the cuts on residents and employees. One councilor made a comparison to President Trump’s famous advisor who made quick — and often wide — decisions about trims to the federal government.

“It’s Elon Musk on steroids with a chainsaw, ripping through the municipality,” Councilor Matt Keating said at the meeting.

For Eugene, the budget outlook is complex and filled with unknowns, even as the next budget will start on July 1. A fire service fee, intended to raise $10 million annually — $2 million more for the fire department and $8 million to plug the shortfall — could go to voters in November. The city council passed the fire service fee in February with a 5–3 vote.

But the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce acquired more than 8,400 signatures and submitted them to the city March 13, enough to qualify the fire service fee for the ballot.

The budget committee, which has all eight city councilors and eight community members, does not make the final decision on the budget. In May, the committee will make a recommendation to the council, which votes on the budget June 23.

Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary said the budget proposal from staff required department leaders to thoughtfully consider all their core functions. While individuals value some services more than others, Medary said all the services — and potential trims — are valued in the community.

Committee members agreed. And they spoke about the need for a long-term strategy. Eugene’s city finances are strained by myriad factors that include rising pension costs, inflation and economic uncertainty amid concerns about a potential recession. Meanwhile, revenues can only go so far. For example, property tax assessments are capped at 3% annually, meaning a rise in market value is often greater than the rise in assessed value.

Councilor Mike Clark said the city needs to focus more on a long-term strategy instead of repeatedly focusing on a short-term strategy. 

Councilor Randy Groves said the city needs a sustainable budget. 

“We need to be working on this issue short term, medium term and long term,” Groves said.

The committee’s budget planning assumes that the fire service fee will not be in place. Outside the budget committee’s work, the city council is considering options that would retool or even rescind the fire service fee. 

The council’s options include: putting it on the ballot in a special election in August, putting a sunset clause on the fire service fee that ends it after several years, or changing the fee’s name to reflect it doesn’t pay for fire service alone.

The budget committee does not play a role in the policy decisions about the fire service fee.

Tai Pruce-Zimmerman, chair of the budget committee, encouraged members to reach out to city staffers. Depending on their questions, presentations could center around specific parts of the budget.

The committee didn’t take public testimony, but that comes in May at the next meetings. Those include: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14;  and 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 21.

The committee will have a public hearing at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 28 and vote on its recommendation to the city council. The council will vote on its budget on June 23. All the meetings are in the council chambers at Eugene City Hall, 500 East 4th Ave., Eugene.

Keating, toward the end of the meeting, said he should have reframed it a bit differently. His second take: Elon Musk with a tree trimmer.

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.