Eugene voters played the part of the wooed and the feared Monday night as Eugene city councilors passed two street repair funding motions that took into account how city residents would react.
The council decided to hold off putting an $81 million tax measure, which would fund street preservation, on the May ballot, and elected to place it on the November ballot. The decision was made in an effort to gain the trust of voters by showing fiscal responsibility.
In a second issue of the night, city councilors voted to extend the city’s 2-cents-per-gallon gas tax that was set to expire Feb. 28, effectively keeping Eugene’s gas tax at 5 cents per gallon. Local gas station owners oppose this decision, and said they will go full speed ahead with petition drive this week to put the matter to voters.

$81 million bond vote

In January 2007 city officials created a plan consisting of various proposals that would address the city’s $170 million backlog of road repairs and preservation, one of which was the $81 million tax measure.
The tax is expected to raise $6.5 million per year through property taxes, and the owner of a median-value home could expect to pay $109 annually for the next 10 years. But councilors felt the city needed to build some goodwill with voters. The council wants to present residents with a shopping list of specific repairs that the $81 million would go toward before asking for more money.
If the city wants to ask voters for money, it needs to present them with a list of what is going to be worked on instead of just saying “trust us,” said Councilor Chris Pryor.
Councilors voted to put the tax measure on the November ballot, and will work out the flexibility of the project list, and whether the money will only go to road repair, or if it will also fund the construction of new streets.

Gas tax petition

The 2-cents-per-gallon gas tax increase implemented in 2005, which brought Eugene’s total gas tax to a nickel a gallon, was scheduled to sunset at the end of February, but councilors voted 7 to 1 to extend that deadline until Feb. 28, 2011.
The extra 2 cents earns the city approximately $1.4 million per year, which goes to funding street maintenance. Councilors said this money is essential to addressing the city’s $170 million backlog of road repairs, and they extended the sunset for another three years.
Mayor Kitty Piercy said the sunset was put in with the agreement that “we’ll rescind it when we solve the problem. It’s still staring us in the face.”
Local gas station owners have repeatedly told the council that if the 2-cents-per-gallon tax was not rescinded by the original deadline, then they would start a petition drive to put the tax to the voters.
“The answer is clear. We will go out to get (the tax) on the ballot,” said Ron Tyree, owner of Eugene-based Tyree Oil. “Frankly the city’s decision tonight may make the state’s decision to pass a statewide gas tax more difficult.”
They have argued that the high gas tax puts them at a disadvantage, and a statewide gas tax increase passed by legislators in Salem would create an even playing field for everyone.
Many councilors, however, expressed pessimistic views of what could be accomplished at the state level.
The state legislators have had 14 years to increase a statewide gas tax, but they have accomplished absolutely nothing, Councilor Alan Zelenka said.
Petitioners will have 30 days to gather the required signatures, but Zelenka warns voters that “if citizens put their name on the ballot, it just means more bad streets.”
[email protected]