Special District White Paper — Draft for Internal Review <br /> may look different than a multiple - purpose district after analyzing the need for and benefit from <br /> the proposed services. A multiple - purpose district may provide the same service as a single - <br /> purpose district, or may provide additional services. As a result, the boundary of a multiple - <br /> purpose district should balance the costs and services to the benefiting taxpayers. <br /> If more than one service is to be provided, the Boundary Commission may favor one multiple - <br /> purpose special district providing services rather than a series of single - purpose districts, each <br /> providing one of those services. <br /> IMPLEMENTING PARK & RECREATION SPECIAL DISTRICT SERVICES WITHIN EUGENE <br /> The following discussion is for the purpose of example only, to illustrate alternative ways a special <br /> district's services could be obtained. This discussion does not constitute a proposal to implement a <br /> special district alternative for park & recreation services, or any other services currently provided <br /> by the City of Eugene. <br /> In this example we ex Iucl Librarir services)anc$' facilities, andonly include perk and recreation <br /> services and facilities. Tha Oity burrently, owns n';operates an extensive range of park and <br /> recreation properties nd faciliti6s To prov)de arktan i r e l creation se ; ices, the City employs <br /> administrative, mainte agce Ian r cre.atid{ial stafLA voter - app $t3.5 million youth <br /> recreational local opti n Ievwill xpiree I=Y03 and repla event reve�rue is not yet determined. <br /> The voters also recen ly appro )/ec a X25 Genera}- Ob,Iigation bond levylfor'upgrading recreation <br /> facilities and acquisiti n of more parkland an4 o[3en 5pa0e. <br /> It is clear that city residents desire good quality park and recreation services, yet the City will <br /> likely have difficulty reliably funding these services into the future. Stable and adequate funding <br /> outside the City's permanent tax revenue limits would very desirable. <br /> A park and recreation district with an adequate permanent operating tax rate limit of its own <br /> could provide the needed stable funding. The district would be an independent municipal <br /> corporation, governed by an independent, elected board accountable to the voters for the <br /> performance of the district. A most important point to understand is that, once the district is <br /> formed, decisions about how park and recreation services may best be provided would be up to <br /> the district board rather than the City Council <br /> For this example we will assume that t40 citizens group decides that park and recreation <br /> services might suitably be provided to the residents of Eugene by a special district. The <br /> proposal would likely require extensive community discussion, discussions with other <br /> jurisdictions in the metropolitan area, and detailed analysis showing it to be financially feasible. <br /> Formation of a new park and recreation special district or annexation to an existing district <br /> requires approval of the Lane County Boundary Commission. Because the current metropolitan <br /> plan requires consolidation of services, amendments to the Metropolitan Plan will have to have <br /> been developed and adopted with the support of the Cities of Eugene and Springfield and Lane <br /> County. Boundary Commission policies may need revision as well. These processes will take at <br /> lease several months. <br /> Draft #5 Page 27 10/24/01 <br />