The proposed measure implements a graduated tax on all city residents, with the increase ranging from 0.49 percent for individuals making less than $10,000 a year to a maximum of 0.90 percent for individuals earning above $22,000. The new tax would remain in place for four years and is projected to raise $16.8 million annually.
The revenue would go toward alleviating the 4J School District’s $24 million deficit for the upcoming academic year. As of now, the district will be forced to close four schools, lay off over 100 employees and add 12 more furlough days to the calendar. Education advocates see the tax as a requirement.
“The truth is that teachers and employees are going to have to take cuts,” said Joy Marshall, an organizer with Stand for Children. “But we can mitigate the damages directly and in the classroom. We want a temporary and fair tax, and we want the money to go to restoring (funding from) those cuts.”
The measure will now appear on a ballot before Eugene voters on May 17.
Despite the council’s decision, the passage of local school taxes this spring is still far from guaranteed. Several citizens spoke in opposition to a school tax at Eugene’s council meeting last night, some citing the recent passage of measures 66 and 67 — two similar school tax proposals — just last year. Business owners also said the tax would be detrimental to the local economy. However, the most frequent argument against the measure was the current education predicament should be a burden for the state, rather than the city.
“This is a much larger situation than what the city of Eugene can handle,” Eugene resident Chris Clark said. “I believe this is a state issue. The (current costs) pale in comparison to the expenses that will be coming down on districts unless the state gets involved.”
These claims echo a statement made by Governor Kitzhaber last week during a meeting with school leaders in which he warned against local school tax measures. Although Kitzhaber did not explicitly oppose these measures, he expressed concern that city-level remedies may reduce voter support for a larger, statewide solution to the education crisis.
Despite their support for finding a statewide solution as well, the majority of the audience nevertheless supported the idea of the local tax.
“We are completely behind what the governor is trying to do, but I don’t think that cutting 15 percent of our school budget is going to make that any more possible,” Marshall said. “What we need to do is not say that it’s the state’s problem, but recognize that it is the kids’ problem.”
Although city councilors eventually voted 7-1 in favor of the tax measure, the final vote was delayed by a debate over whether the tax should appear on a May or November ballot, with supporters of a November measure arguing the measure was being crafted too fast and without enough information. Ultimately though, a majority of the council concluded that the issue is too urgent and argued that worries over details were largely unwarranted, as they will continue to be ironed out over the next few weeks.
“The reason we’re even sitting here tonight is to retain teachers and add back lost school days. If we wait until November, there is no point,” Councilor George Brown said. “We’re proposing a remedy to a really bad situation. It has to be May.”

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