CID to be subject of lawsuit, citizens group says

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

Community improvement could be the subject of a lawsuit.

A group called Citizens for Fairness and Due Process has formed and plans to challenge a downtown Community Improvement District.

City Council voted at its Sept. 7 meeting to develop the CID in center city. Many in attendance at that meeting voiced opposition to the self-taxing district, which would capture a special property tax to be used for improvements to the downtown area, such as parking management and maintenance.

The district was approved in September, but originally appeared on council's agenda in June. Council could not hold its public hearing on the bill then because notices of the hearing were not correctly posted, said Nancy Yendes, assistant city attorney.

"We went back and re-did the notices, so there should not be any legal challenge there," Yendes said.

The Citizens for Fairness and Due Process, led by Bill Graham, a downtown property owner, plan to challenge Springfield's CID ordinance on the basis that it "violated the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the Constitution of the state of Missouri and the Constitution of the United States," Graham said.

The group has a 90-day deadline from Sept. 7 to file its suit. Graham said the group had collected some money, but would not disclose how much, and had hired attorneys Dudley Martin and Devon Sherwood.

"It's not that we are opposed to the CID