Eugene council votes to add economic development staff, at cost of $800k

The city of Eugene plans to more than double the size of its economic development team in an effort to spur business and job growth.

The City Council voted 3-3 Wednesday, April 8, on a proposal to add four economic development jobs, costing Eugene a total of $800,000 annually. Mayor Kaarin Knudson cast the tie-breaking “yes” vote, after two councilors — Alan Zelenka and Greg Evans — left the work session before votes were cast.

Assistant City Manager Matt Rodrigues said funding for the jobs would come from Eugene’s general fund, but the city hasn’t yet identified what tradeoffs or cuts might be needed to allocate those dollars.

Eugene projects a $2 million annual general fund gap in its 2027-2029 budget cycle, which is forecast to grow to more than $10 million annually by the 2033-2035 biennium on its current trajectory. 

The proposal to add economic development staff traces back to Eugene’s Technical Advisory Group on Fiscal Stability, a 12-person committee of financial and business experts that met about a dozen times late last year to examine the city’s finances and recommend strategies to stabilize Eugene’s budget long-term. 

Now, city staff, in partnership with organizations like Onward Eugene, Better Housing Together and A.C.T. Now Lane, have proposed adding the staff positions to achieve the advisory group’s goals.

Eugene already has three positions that support citywide economic development, but those staff focus only on high-level and granular work, leaving a gap in the middle for program management and development, said Anne Fifield, the economic development section manager for the city’s Community Development division.

“If the city is going to be part of a broad solution to set higher goals and outperform our current trajectory, then this middle slot is the place for investing in more capacity,” Community Development Director Will Dowdy added. 

Rodrigues acknowledged that adding staffing expenses to the upcoming budget was “fairly unique” following a budget cycle with “substantial cuts.” 

The city bridged an $11.5 million gap in last year’s budget using new revenue from an increased stormwater fee and by making several million dollars in cuts to services and investments. 

“We don’t typically come to you with this kind of an ask, but it’s within the framing of what we’ve seen as the need,” Rodrigues said. 

The new positions include:

1. Business development manager: A new position that would lead the implementation of the advisory group’s recommendations. This employee would earn an annual salary somewhere between $93,246 and $125,881, per the city’s salary schedule.
2. Business development analyst: A new position that serves as “critical support staff” for implementation of the advisory group’s recommendations. This employee would earn an annual salary between $87,443 and $113,651.
3. Housing production analyst: A new position establishing and implementing “city tools and programs to increase housing supply” across Eugene, separate from existing affordable housing programs. Dowdy said this could include implementing moderate-income housing incentives and revolving loans, commercial center housing incentives, and microvillage housing. This employee would earn an annual salary between $87,443 and $113,651.
4. Development liaison: A currently vacant position that “supports applicants through the permitting process” and implements “improvements to the process and communications with customers.” This position is already funded through Eugene’s construction permit fund. 

As part of its vote, the council directed the city to “add” three positions to the supplemental budget for fiscal year 2026 and 2027 and begin implementing the advisory group’s recommendations.

One of the cuts made in last year’s budget cycle was a vacant economic development position. Relaunching that position “makes sense as part of a larger strategy,” Dowdy said, as now Eugene has a “clear understanding” of why the job is needed and how the investment will pay off. 

The new staff would work toward a goal of generating 14,000 jobs and $25 million in tax revenue within 10 years, a target developed in response to Eugene’s gloomy economic condition.

Since 1991, five cities comparable to Eugene — Salem; Bend; Boise, Idaho; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Spokane, Washington — have outpaced the city in job growth, according to data reviewed by the council last month. Eugene’s households also have lower-paying jobs than households in those cities.

That means less tax revenue for the city, schools and county, and higher demand for social services, Fifield said.

“This target would result in well over a 1,000% return on the proposed investment,” Dowdy said. “Even if we only achieved a fraction of that success, a quarter or a fifth of that target, the general fund increase would far exceed the investment.”

Councilors chime in

Councilors were apprehensive to add new costs to the city’s lagging budget, but the three who supported the proposal — Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark and Randy Groves — said it was a necessary first step to improving the city’s long-term economic condition. 

“Oftentimes things that take a long time, it’s easy to push them off, because you think you have a lot of time,” Yeh said. “I’d rather get going on some of these important projects and getting you the staff you need to really do them while we still have the opportunity.”

The councilors who voted no — Lyndsie Leech, Eliza Kashinsky and Matt Keating — said they wanted to discuss the city’s finances in greater detail at two work sessions scheduled for May and a council workshop planned for June before making decisions about staffing.

“I feel a little bit like we’re going out of order,” Leech said.  

Zelenka, who left the meeting before the vote, said it wasn’t clear what spending the city would have to cut to afford the staff.