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Special District White Paper • Service or user fees may be charged. • Property taxes may be levied to support operations. The Oregon Constitution requires that a permanent operating property tax rate limit must be approved prior to the levying of property taxes. The statutes don't specify a maximum amount of operating property tax revenue that may be collected. • A special property tax levy may also be collected for facility construction, consistent with the district's facilities master plan. This levy may not exceed $0.50 per $1000 RMV per year for a maximum of five years. This would generate net revenue of about $5.35 million annually, or about $27 million over five years, based on Eugene's AV. This revenue is to be placed in a revolving fund for the purposes allowed in the principal Act. • GO Bonding may not exceed 13% of RMV or $1.39 billion dollars within Eugene. GO bond levies are outside the constitutional general govemment limit. • Local option levies under ORS Chapter 280 are allowed. In other counties, several CSDs may exist and overlap if each provides different services. In Lane County, however, under a Boundary Commission's jurisdiction, state law permits only one CSD to serve any particular territory. To change this and permit more than one would require legislative action. It is important to consider all services that may be desired through a single CSD and set the district's permanent maximum property tax rate limit at a level that will produce adequate revenue for those services. Once passed by the voters, the rate limit cannot be changed, even if new services are later authorized and delivered. CSDs also have other sources of revenue, in particular assessments, which may support some services. Port District Port districts may issue a variety of bonds and charge user fees, connection fees, property assessments, and promissory notes. Ports may also may develop, rent, lease or sell land for industrial and research purposes. Property taxes may be collected for a special bond sinking fund; these taxes may be up to the amount equal to 0.25% of RMV of taxable property in the district. This is equivalent to about $3.30 per $1000 AV in Eugene, for maximum annual sinking fund revenue within Eugene of $26.7 million. GO bonds are permitted for capital projects, and revenue bonds may be issued with voter approval. The port district may loan out proceeds of revenue bonds. Single - purpose versus Multiple- purpose Special Districts The main advantage of single - purpose special districts is that they are formed for one primary purpose and can concentrate their efforts and resources toward that purpose. The elected board member for the single - purpose district (with the exception of county road districts, where the county board serves as district board) will typically be focused on district services and will be directly accountable to the voters for district outcomes. Formation of a single - purpose district will probably be simpler than forming a district with multiple purposes. However, having an array of special districts in the metropolitan area, in addition to city and county governments, can become confusing and possibly be administratively top -heavy for the level of services provided. Overlapping single - purpose districts and cities may have different boundaries, resulting in patchy service delivery and taxation patterns throughout the region. Reaching consensus among several districts and governments with different purposes and purposes can be complex. Political discussion may be fragmented because each service provider has a separate Special Districts Paper - Final 11- 8- 01.doc Page 17 of 41 City Council Agenda page 41