Eugene schedules follow-up work session after fire service fee referendum qualifies for November ballot

Katie Lasalla, the city recorder, told the Eugene City Council on April 9 that referendum petition 2025-1 had met the county's signature-validation threshold and was certified on March 24, meaning the ordinance referred by the petition will appear on the next regular election ballot in November unless the council repeals it by Sept. 3.

The petitioners submitted 928 signature sheets with more than 8,000 unvalidated signatures, Lasalla said, and the county's verification returned enough valid signatures for the referendum to qualify. "Their verification checks did result in enough valid signatures for the referendum to qualify to the ballot," Lasalla said.

The ordinance at issue, Ordinance 20717, was passed by council on Feb. 10 and establishes a fire service fee. Eugene code 2.98(o) requires the city present options to council no later than 20 days after the city recorder certifies an initiative or referendum petition; Lasalla outlined the statutorily permitted council responses: repeal the ordinance, vote to urge adoption or defeat (a statement to the electorate), or order alternative measures to appear on the same ballot. She also described the emergency election process as an option council could pursue.

Mayor (unnamed in the record) opened council discussion by urging deliberation and additional community engagement, saying in part, "I do think that there...is more information needed, and more work that we can do to build understanding about the really challenging pressures that our community is under." Multiple councilors voiced a preference to continue deliberations rather than repeal the ordinance immediately and asked staff for additional meetings and budget context.

City Manager Sarah explained the upcoming budget timeline to the council during the same exchange: the initial proposed budget would be released April 18 and an amended budget a week later; the city manager said she will present the combined/amended budget on April 30. Staff also clarified that the amended presentation will reflect roughly $11.5 million in reductions overall as part of the city's budget planning for the year.

Council discussion focused on seeking more information and public engagement before taking any legislative action on the ordinance. Councilors asked about the timing and trade-offs of a November election versus calling an emergency election and about how budget decisions would interact with the referendum process. Several councilors said they wanted a public forum before any final direction.

On a motion from Councilor Evans to direct the city manager to schedule a follow-up work session, the council voted 8-0 to schedule a work session on April 21 to continue discussion of options. Councilors and staff noted that public comment would be available on April 14 and that the April 21 work session would follow a 5:30 p.m. public hearing that evening. No repeal motion was offered or adopted at the April 9 meeting; by scheduling further discussion, the council left the petitioned measure on track for the November ballot unless a future council action repeals the ordinance.

Next steps: a public comment period on April 14, the scheduled follow-up council work session on April 21 (to occur immediately after a 5:30 p.m. public hearing), and continued budget presentations on April 18 and April 30. If council decides to repeal the ordinance it must do so by Sept. 3 to remove the measure from the November ballot.