The Eugene City Council has approved an alternative to its embattled fire fee – an estimated 18% hike to stormwater fees. The change will allow the city to stave off some, but not all of its planned budget cuts.
The city is facing an $11.5 million shortfall after years of plateauing property taxes, increasing pension costs and high inflation.
Eugene had originally hoped to address that gap with a “fire fee” based on the square footage of buildings – but couldn’t collect it after a group backed by the Eugene Chamber of Commerce referred the proposal to the ballot…