Rental homes cheaper in Springfield, report finds.

Byline: CITY BEAT/SPRINGFIELD By Bob Keefer The Register-Guard

Yes, it's cheaper to live in Springfield. According to the 2000-03 Springfield Residential Land Monitoring Report, the average cost of renting a two-bedroom home less than 15 years old in Springfield was $676 last spring. That compares with $792 in Eugene. One-bedroom newer homes went for $575 in Springfield and $676 in Eugene.

Older homes were $590 in Eugene and $511 in Springfield for two bedrooms, and $472 in Eugene and $424 in Springfield for one bedroom.

The report will be presented to the City Council at its work session Monday.

Urban renewal plan

Public officials think Glenwood and downtown Springfield look ripe for redevelopment using tax-increment public financing.

That's where property taxes resulting from increased property values go to an urban renewal agency for some period of time, perhaps 20 years, to pay for creating and running the agency.

Eventually the deal expires, and cities and counties enjoy higher tax revenue from the now more valuable property.

Whether the public supports that idea might be another question.

The topic will be discussed Monday evening at a City Council work session, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Jesse Maine Room, City Hall, 225 Fifth St., where Community Development Manager John Tamulonis is to present three options for city leaders to consider:

Option 1: Do little or nothing. "Let the `invisible hand' of general market forces gradually provide for any changes within downtown or Glenwood," his report says.

Option 2: Continue the city's "modest and very opportunistic level of involvement in fostering development" through community development block grants and other small programs.

Option 3: Provide "sustained support for long-term investment to realize opportunities for the redevelopment of downtown and Glenwood." That likely means a formal urban renewal district with tax-increment financing.

Tamulonis doesn't provide a recommendation to the council, but it's a fair bet he's rooting for Option 3. "Now would be an opportune time to move forward with urban renewal for downtown and Glenwood," he writes.

He also includes a page-long time line for establishing an urban renewal plan that starts with establishing a study area boundary in June and ends with voter approval in the November general election.

Making ends meet

While public agencies all around it slash services and complain about rising costs, the Willamalane Park & Recreation District is proposing a 2005 budget with no service cuts.

"Our budget outlook is relatively bright," Willamalane Superintendent Bob Keefer writes in his budget message. He will present the message to the district budget committee at its meeting from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Willamalane Adult Activity Center, 215 West C St., Springfield.

The district, which employs the equivalent of about 140 full-time workers, is almost entirely funded by property taxes, which are limited to about a 3 percent increase in the coming year by Measure 5 and related tax-cutting laws.

Nevertheless, Willamalane is making ends meet by keeping personnel costs down, Keefer wrote.

"We are not a member of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, and our union has worked with us cooperatively to control costs," he wrote.

Keefer is proposing an $8.89 million general fund budget, down just slightly from last year's budget of $8.98 million. About $5.8 million of that will come from property tax receipts, with most of the rest paid for by $2 million in recreation activity fees.

The budget committee also is scheduled to meet May 19 and May 26, if necessary, before a public hearing on the budget by the district board on June 23.

Bob Keefer of The Register-Guard - no relation to Bob Keefer of Willamalane - can be reached at 338-2325 or [e-mail].