Eugene council directs staff to return $11.5M budget-cut options, asks for two allocation scenarios

The City of Eugene City Council on Jan. 15 directed the city manager to bring back potential strategies to address an $11,500,000 annual shortfall in the general fund and asked staff to present two allocation scenarios for council review.

The request came during a work session on the city’s biennial budget planning. City Manager (unnamed in the transcript) told councilors the timing is compressed because budget decisions must be finalized for the May adoption process and said, “this really is in your hands,” as staff sought direction on the total gap to solve for and how to spread reductions across programs and departments.

The council’s chief financial officer, Twyla Miller, said the current structural general fund target in the forecast is $9,800,000 annually and that including previously one-time items as ongoing would raise that target to $11,500,000. Miller described components that had been proposed for the “base gap,” including a proposed $1,000,000 annual adjustment for police vacancy funding, $500,000 for state-mandated planning work (PDD mandate), a $900,000 annual…