EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Eugene, Ore., city officials are considering an increase of almost 50 percent in the budget for construction of a new City Hall.
A proposed cash infusion would give the project $8.7 million, boosting the authorized budget 46 percent to $27.45 million from its present authorized amount of $18.75 million, The Register-Guard reported.
The proposed contribution would come from a nearly $19 million payment that Comcast recently made to the city. It comes as city officials are attempting to refocus the construction project that has drawn criticism for running over budget.
Comcast made the payment to the city after losing a long-running legal dispute over a city-imposed fee for broadband internet service.
Before the money can be distributed to the City Hall project, it must be endorsed next year by the city Budget Committee and approved by the City Council.
City Manager Jon Ruiz had proposed transferring the $8.7 million into a reserve fund for the City Hall project for future possible use but the council decided instead to place the money in the city’s main reserve fund. Doing the latter will allow review and discussion by the city’s budget committee.
“We should figure if the amount is big enough, everybody’s going to want to talk about it,” Councilor Chris Pryor said during a Dec. 12 meeting.
During the past several months, the City Council had abandoned the proposed City Hall on the vacant City Hall block that had far exceeded the current authorized budget. The city now plans to purchase a county-owned parking lot across from the existing county courthouse as the future site of the city hall.
