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Recommendation: Recommendation: <br /> 1. Support any effort to increase the amount of state shared revenues sent to local 1. The City supports proposals to require State-owned property within city <br /> governments and oppose any action that would reduce current funding levels. boundaries to contribute to police, fire and emergency services, using payment- <br /> in-lieu-of--taxes (PILOT) funding mechanisms. <br /> 2. ABILITY TO CHARGE FOR STATE-MANDATED SERVICES <br /> 7. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM (PERS) <br /> Cities should be allowed to recover the full cost of providing a service when performing <br /> mandated activities on behalf of the State. The State may have an interest in setting ~ The City's employer rates for the Public Employees Retirement System grew at a <br />volatile <br /> guidelines for the fees charged by local government, but cities should be able to request and alarming pace in the last 10 years. The 2003 Legislative Session produced <br />HB 2003, <br /> fee increases when their documented costs exceed State recommendations. the PERS Reform and Stabilization Act. This reform package was spurred on at the <br /> longtime urging of local governments, joined later on by the state's business community <br /> 3. DISBURSEMENT OF STATE FINES AND FEES and eventually the leadership of Governor Ted Kulongoski. The bill provided corrections. <br /> for employee/employer crediting practices'of the PERS board found erroneous in a <br /> The burden of uncollected fines/fees should be shared equally between the state and the previous lawsuit, slowed the growth of employee accounts in an effort to reduce the <br /> city unfunded liability of PERS and employers. It has been estimated that these reforms <br /> shaved nearly five percent off employer rates in the first valuations adopted by the PERS <br /> Recommendation: board subsequently. <br /> 1. The City supports any effort to allow cities and the State to equally divide any ~ The PERS reforms, if upheld in pending legal challenges, improve the stability <br />of the <br /> monies collected, so that the burden of uncollected monies is shared by both. ~ PERS system, but stabilization does not fully reverse the spiral of PERS costs brought <br />on <br /> in the last 10 years by incorrect crediting practices and the fiscally unsound structure of <br /> 4. ABILITY TO RECOUP COSTS OF STATE COLLECTIONS PERS. <br /> When the City acts as a collection agent for the State, it should be allowed to retain its ~ Recommendation: <br /> legitimate overhead costs before forwarding funds to the State. <br /> 1 1. Support efforts to uphold PERS reforms and mitigate volatile rate increases to <br /> 5. FEE FOR SERVICES TO TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS public employers, in a fashion that upholds a fair and adequate retirement for <br /> i public employees. <br /> Cities should be allowed to collect payments in lieu of property taxes for municipal <br /> services provided totax-exempt organizations. ~ 8. REPEAL OF LOCAL REAL ESTATE TRANSFER TAX PREEMPTION <br /> 6. PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES FOR POLICE, FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL Under current law, local governments are prohibited from enacting local real estate <br /> SERVICES PROVIDED TO STATE-OWNED PROPERTY transfer taxes or fees. Real Estate Transfer Taxes have been used successfully in other <br /> states as a way of funding and promoting affordable housing. Additionally, a local real <br /> The League of Oregon Cities is supporting legislation to require State agencies with ~ estate transfer tax would be a logical tool for local governments to use to process <br />claims <br /> property within a city's boundaries to make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) ~ and pay just compensation on occasion, in apost-Measure 37 environment. <br /> equivalent to the portion of the city's taxes that goes to support police, fire and <br /> emergency medical services. Recommendation: <br /> As an example, state-owned properties with an estimated assessed value of about $400 1. Support efforts to repeal the prohibition of local real estate transfer taxes. <br /> million receive police, fire and emergency medical services provided by the City of <br /> Eugene yet are exempt from payment of property taxes to help support those services, 9. LOCAL FLEXIBILITY FOR ENTERPRISE ZONE CRITERIA <br /> Other Oregon cities, like Salem, with many state-owned properties face similar demands <br /> for services, Enterprise Zones have. been useful tools available to local governments to attract <br /> employers. However, more flexibility is needed to affordlocal governments the <br /> <br /> City of Eugene Legislative Policies, 2005 Session 14 City of Eugene Legislative Policies, 2005 Session 15 <br /> I <br /> r <br /> I <br /> <br />