Council holds first readings on ordinances to update tourism grant authority and repeal old $5,000 cap

City staff presented two ordinances at first reading on April 8, asking the Roseburg City Council to repeal a 2010 code section that established a $5,000 commission expenditure authority and to amend the Economic Development Commission (EDC) chapter to allow a larger tourism-grant authorization.

Staff said the $5,000 cap adopted in 2010 “is not the same as it is now,” citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI calculator and noting $5,000 in April 2010 has the buying power of roughly $7,117 today. “So as part of this, we are asking the council to repeal this section,” the presenter said, and to amend the EDC code so the commission can award a higher grant amount without immediate council approval. Staff said the change would allow the spring tourism-grant cycle to operate under the higher threshold if the ordinances are adopted and noted a 30‑day effective period before the change would take effect.

Council members questioned whether higher award caps might reduce the pool of applicants and how increased grant awards would affect the transient lodging (hotel‑motel) tax fund. Staff said the city does budget and allocate hotel‑motel revenues across several uses, including the destination marketing organization Experience Roseburg (operated by Anthem Northwest), a streets-and‑sidewalks fund, and the economic-development allocation. Staff said the line item used for these grants was increased in this year’s proposed budget from $75,000 to $125,000 to reflect anticipated demand and larger award requests.

Council conducted first readings of ordinance 3601 (to repeal Roseburg Municipal Code section 2.32.060) and the related amendment to chapter 2.18 governing the Economic Development Commission; council discussed sequencing and indicated it would vote on each ordinance in a future meeting.

The session did not adopt final ordinance language; staff and council agreed to return the items for final consideration and vote in a later meeting. Ending: If adopted as drafted, staff said the amended threshold would be in place in time for the spring tourism grant cycle.