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City of Eugene, Oregon Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Message. <br />~` Mayor Piercy, Budget Committee Members, and Eugene Citizens: <br />The $442.3 million budget proposal that I recommend to you is <br />virtually the same size as the FY07 Adopted Budget and is a balanced <br />fiscal plan that contains a few carefully considered changes. Those <br />changes are based on prior year council decisions, the City's financial <br />capacity as determined by the long-range General Fund forecast, and <br />current council goals. The good news is that taxpayers will pay less <br />for city services next year, as our combined tax rate will drop by <br />about 89 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in FY08. This translates <br />to annual savings of $95 for the typical homeowner. The not-so-good <br />news is this budget cannot be sustained into the future without. <br />significant modifications. We will need to review and realign <br />General Fund services during FY08 to fit within existing and projected resources in future <br />years. <br />General Fund Decisions <br />Much of the decision-making for this year's proposed General Fund budget occurred last May <br />when the City Council made two key decisions: <br />1. The City Council asked voters to approve afour-year, $2.7 million local option property tax <br />levy supporting library operations that was approximately half the size of the expiring levy. <br />Voters agreed with. the strategy and approved the smaller library levy in November 2006. <br />The.council also directed us to use the General Fund to maintain existing library service <br />levels during the next four years and to fund library services entirely from the General Fund <br />by FY12, when the reduced local option levy terminates. This decision adds $1.1 million in <br />General Fund services in FY08, gradually rising to $5.6 million in FY12, when the entire <br />$10.0 million cost of the Library must be supported by the General Fund. <br />2. The City Council did not renew the Youth and School Services local option levy in FY08. <br />In FY07, this levy provided $6.5 million to local school districts for non-academic youth <br />programs and $1.0 million to the City's Library, Recreation and Cultural Services <br />Department to operate youth. recreation programs. <br />When the library and youth recreation program decisions were factored into the six-year <br />_, General Fund forecast and discussed with the Budget Committee in January and February 2007, <br />~. the committee, whose citizen members had just completed a report on City-provided youth <br />recreation services, voted to direct me to continue current spending on youth recreation <br />programs in FY08. This directive adds another $1.1 million to General Fund-supported <br />services in FY08 that were previously funded by the youth levy and grants. <br />,_ 1 <br />~'~-;- <br />__ <br />___ _ __ __ <br />City Manager Dennis Taylor <br />