Springfield and Greene County residents went to the polls Tuesday, and the results were a shot in the arm for both the city of Springfield and the Springfield R-XII School District.
The city's proposed 3/4-cent sales tax to bolster the underfunded Police and Fire Pension Fund passed with 54.6 percent of the vote. The election is the second time this year that the city has attempted to pass a sales tax for the pension fund; a 1-cent tax failed at the polls in February.
More than 23,700 people voted on the issue, an increase of about 4,500 from the February vote.
"What does that say? It says to us that many voters took the time to dig into this issue and get educated about it," city spokesman Mike Brothers said on the city blog Wednesday morning. "As you know if you've been reading this space, (the pension fund) is not a sexy issue. But it's an important one nonetheless."
Springfield City Council now will implement a list of seven proposals it approved in September to offer additional support to the fund, including increasing city contribution levels to 35 percent from 28.88 percent of payroll, increasing Police and Fire employee contributions to 13.35 percent from 11.35 percent; and closing the plan to new hires, putting them instead into the statewide Local Government Employees Retirement System.
City officials have scheduled a briefing this afternoon to offer more information about the next steps in the pension funding process.
Springfield school officials, meanwhile, got approval for a $50 million, no-tax-increase bond issue. About 65 percent of the nearly 28,000 voters approved the measure, which will allow the district to take advantage of federal stimulus funding for school improvement projects.
Among the projects to be funded with the new bonds: air conditioning installation for the last nine district buildings without air; expansion and improvements to Hillcrest High School; retiring lease payments for the new Hickory Hills Elementary & Middle School; and adding interactive whiteboards to most district classrooms.
"This bond fulfills a promise made to the community a decade ago to air condition all district schools ... (and) construction and improvement projects and technology upgrades will put more district schools in line with 21st-century standards for education," Superintendent Norm Ridder said in a written statement. "As we break ground and move forward with the projects promised in this bond, we will keep voters apprised of the progress and informed of the impact."
