b) County Service Districts (CSD) (ORS 451) can provide 20 different services <br />among which are public parks and recreation facilities including land, structures, <br />equipment, supplies, and personnel necessary to acquire, develop, and maintain <br />such public park and recreation facilities and to administer a program of supervised <br />recreation services. <br />Pros: <br />• Can levy property taxes and issue bonds. <br />• Con contract for services with other units of local government. <br />• Local officials are familiar with this since one CSD already exists in the <br />Eugene - Springfield metropolitan region (Lane County Metropolitan <br />Wastewater Service District). <br />• As self- financing legal entities they have the ability to raise a predictable <br />revenue stream directly from the people who benefit from the services. <br />Cons: <br />• To add a new function to an existing CSD requires a "change in organization" <br />of the original district formation which may not result in additional taxing <br />ability. Approval of that additional function requires approval by the county <br />board and boundary commission. <br />• County board serves as the governing body. While the board is elected to <br />represent the entire county, the CSD may serve a subarea of the county, so <br />direct representation of the citizenry is somewhat disjointed. If the county <br />board is more focused on rural service delivery, a CSD organized to provide <br />urban level functions in a metropolitan region, may take attention and energy <br />away from the county board's primary interest and expertise. <br />• Anti -tax and anti - government sentiment could work against creating a new <br />district. <br />• CSD debt is part of the Lane County debt burden. <br />• Requires agreement from and coordination with cities and special districts <br />providing the same services. <br />c) Metropolitan Service Districts (MDS) (ORS 268) can provide a variety of services <br />among which is the acquisition, development, maintenance, and operation of a <br />system of parks, open space and recreational facilities of metropolitan significance. <br />Pros: <br />• Provides the necessary array of services within one boundary. <br />• Can enter into agreements with federal, state, and local governments to <br />provide coordinated services. <br />• Can provide metropolitan services with other existing local governments <br />focusing on more local service delivery and issues. <br />• Can levy taxes. <br />• As self- financing legal entities they have the ability to raise a predictable <br />revenue stream directly from the people who benefit from the services. <br />Open Space Acquisition Funding and Protection Strategies — Draft October 2001 17 <br />