An undated photo of a fire engine parked in front of University Station in Eugene.
Brian Bull / KLCC
Eugene is facing a nearly $14 million budget shortfall over the next two years. City leaders are contemplating cutbacks and higher fees for city services.
During a workshop Monday night, city staff said inflation and staffing costs have grown far faster than Eugene’s revenue — the largest share of which is property taxes.
During that meeting, Mayor Lucy Vinis said the city might need more resources. She hopes two ideas — adding 80 cents a month to city stormwater fees, which are collected via EWEB’s billing process, and charging a fire services fee based on building square footage — will help close that gap.
“There’s concern about how much the taxpayers can withstand, and when are we overloading,” Vinis said. “But, at the same time recognizing that everybody is getting these services, everybody is paying a small amount of the increase so the overall reliability of the system is strengthened.”
The stormwater funds, which would generate about $1 million, will go toward preserving parks.
The fire service fee, which would go toward next year’s anticipated deficit, would generate about $10 million.
About 20% of that funding would go toward boosting staffing at the fire department.
Councilor Randy Groves said fire staffing levels have stayed static for decades while call volume has drastically increased.
When adjusted for inflation, Eugene has fewer full-time employees per capita now than it did during the Great Recession, according to the city.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated how Eugene’s proposed stormwater fee increase goes to the city, not EWEB.