City Beat: Committee referral sparks council clash

Springfield City Councilmember Craig Hosmer came to the Aug. 25 meeting ready to defend a signature item of legislation, passed in June, as Mayor Jeff Schrag proposed an ordinance to suspend its enforcement.

At issue is a section of code, approved by a council vote June 23, requiring that businesses pay their personal property taxes – assessed on tangible business assets like equipment and furniture – as a condition of obtaining an occupational license. The requirement was likened by Hosmer to a similar requirement that vehicle owners pay personal property taxes prior to vehicle registration.

At an Aug. 19 council lunch meeting, Schrag introduced his new ordinance to suspend enforcement of the previously passed measure so that council’s Plans & Policies Committee can more fully vet the legislation.

Last night’s council meeting included the first reading and public hearing on the mayor’s proposed ordinance to suspend enforcement of the requirement.

Schrag relinquished his chair’s responsibilities for running the meeting during discussion of the ordinance, and Mayor Pro Tem Heather Hardinger took the gavel. Schrag explained that he was not recusing himself, but he noted he wanted to be free to engage in the discussion. 

Hosmer, who was sitting four seats away from the mayor, addressed City Attorney Jordan Paul at the podium to ask if the mayor would be providing testimony, noting that typically when a council member sponsors a bill, they offer a presentation.

“Do you know any reason why the bill was offered?” he asked the attorney.

Paul said it was because the code change did not go through committee, but then he corrected himself to say that it did go to Plans & Policies but was pulled by Hosmer from the committee before it was discussed.

Hosmer noted he exercised his right to remove the bill from committee after it sat idle for months.

“Is there any substantive arguments about the ordinance that you know of?” Hosmer asked.

Paul declined to respond, referring the question to the mayor.

Hosmer said the Greene County Assessor told council 60% of businesses don’t pay their property taxes, and there is no mechanism for enforcing payment. He added that Paul had done research to show that other cities, including Kansas City and St. Louis, have similar ordinances in place. 

Paul said it is his understanding that the measure is legally enforceable.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson asked if staff had been made aware of any concerns expressed by businesses, and city Finance Director David Holtmann said they had not.

Councilmember Monica Horton asked for clarification on whether a bill is mandated to go through the committee process before it is taken up by council or if that is just a recommendation.  Paul said committee vetting of bills is merely encouraged. 

Horton said that there are a lot of methods by which bills are vetted outside of committee.

“I just don’t want for us as council members to get locked into one particular way of doing things when there’s multiple ways of doing things,” she said. “This huge expectation that topics or bills are supposed to go to committee, I am not necessarily locked into that because I have seen this process work in multiple ways.”

She said if there are lingering questions about the legislation, they should be asked of staff, and she added she would support the bill only if enforcement of the new requirement continues.

“If council wants to send it back to committee, I’m OK with that – but to suspend it just to suspend it, I’m not sure,” Horton said.

Hosmer asked Schrag directly if he had heard from a specific business about a specific concern, and Schrag answered no.

“I have not talked to a specific business about a specific issue,” Schrag said. “My concern is more that I think it is a complex issue, and I would like it to be vetted to make sure there aren’t any unintended consequences.”

Hosmer countered by asking what part of the measure is complex while noting most of the process is completed through an online form. He also called the move “horrible public policy.”

“Without any reason for why we’re doing it – it’s not even been enforced yet – we want to send it back to committee, and what that means is code for it’s going to die,” Hosmer said.

He added that paying taxes is a compact that people join into to say that they will pay their fair share. When they don’t, he said, it’s fundamentally unfair.

Hosmer said, “If you’ve got a valid reason for why we shouldn’t be collecting the personal property tax that’s not paid in this city to fund essential services of this city, we need to know in a public hearing.”

Schrag said at the outset of discussion that he had prepared a statement about his support of the ordinance to suspend, but at no point during the meeting did he read those remarks.

Council is scheduled to vote on the measure to suspend enforcement of the newly passed section of code and refer it to committee at its Sept. 8 meeting.

Underinvestment in infrastructure
Council approved an ordinance to rezone 10 acres surrounding Schweitzer Church to general retail with a conditional overlay district from single-family residential, general retail and highway commercial.

However, prior to the vote, Councilmember Brandon Jenson raised a concern about the city putting pressure on developers by not meeting its own infrastructure obligations.

The property’s owner, Schweitzer Church Inc., intends to expand its parking lot for a growing congregation; however, some of its neighbors spoke during the public hearing Aug. 11 with concerns about the closure of two of the three exits from the church onto Sunshine Street to divert traffic to a driveway on East Stanford Street, a residential roadway located behind church property. 

Jenson said he had been in conversation with the church about concerns posed by the project and some of the challenges they have faced. He said the church has committed to providing a gate closing off the new access onto Stanford when not needed by the congregation and to investigate the strategy of posting volunteers to help direct traffic. 

But Jenson said council needs to have a conversation about how the city has been built up over time and what the expectations of city residents are. 

“Our codes don’t really allow us to sort of phase that in but require us to trigger those improvements whenever development or redevelopment occurs,” he said. “It oftentimes feels like we’re trying to clean up not necessarily mistakes but unintended impacts from past decisions and how our city has developed over time.” 

He noted Sunshine’s dangers are well documented by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and the closure of some accesses makes sense. 

He also said the city has underinvested in stormwater management and sidewalk improvements, though it is making progress in those areas. 

“We hear these issues time and time again on development proposals, particularly traffic impacts, stormwater management and sidewalks,” he said. “These are all valid concerns that I think our residents are facing because they are things they are experiencing in real time.” 

He said the challenge is that residents with longstanding issues because of underinvestment by the city expect developers to solve the problem, but all the code requires is that developers don’t make the issue worse. 

“We as a city need to have a flexible and responsive funding mechanism to layer in with development, because these are real concerns that our residents are bringing to us,” he said. 

He added, “It’s not something we should place at the feet of the development community but should be something that we as a city should walk alongside with, provide funding to make those necessary public improvements and help make our city thrive.” 

The council bill regarding the zoning listed an incorrect address for the church property. An amendment to the bill to correct the address will be put before council at an upcoming meeting, according to a city spokesperson. Schweitzer Church is located at 2747 E. Sunshine St., but the council agenda listed it at 2456 E. Sunshine St., the site of a future Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The rezoning passed by a unanimous vote of council. 

Other action items

• Council voted to annex 10 acres of private property located in the 4000 block of South Jonathan Avenue at the request of the owners, the Boehm Family Trust. The owners intend to rezone and subdivide the property for residential development.
• A conditional use permit was approved for 1212 N. Broadway Ave. to allow a daycare center as an adaptive use of a non-residential structure. The move was at the request of Czrina Moreno.
• Rezonings were approved for over an acre at 2800 N. Kansas Expressway, to highway commercial from general retail at the request of Khan Family Properties LLC, which seeks to operate an auto dealership; nearly 4 acres at 1100 E. Kearney St. and surrounding properties to highway commercial from residential townhouse with a conditional overlay district at the request of nonprofit Elevate Lives, whose mission is to address poverty issues; and half an acre at 2961 E. Republic Road to limited business district with conditional overlay from single-family residential at the request of Windmill Holdings LLC, which seeks to operate an event venue on the site.
• A renewed employment agreement was approved for City Clerk Anita Cotter at a base salary of $177,000, plus longevity pay of $1,200 per year of service.
• Council certified property valuations for fiscal 2025 with a 13.5% year-over-year increase in assessed valuation of real estate, state-assessed utilities and personal property. The 2025 valuation of those assets is $4.5 billion, up from $3.9 billion in 2024. The tax levy for the city is $0.6104, which would generate estimated revenue of $27 million, according to Finance Director David Holtmann. The measure was approved in one reading, due to a requirement to approve it by Sept. 1. The legislation updates a preliminary valuation approved by council in June.
• The first reading was held for an appropriation of $370,000 from level property tax interest proceeds to fund an office and maintenance building project at Hazelwood Cemetery. A vote is scheduled for Sept. 8.
• A measure that would limit campaign contributions to City Council candidates was referred to the Finance & Administration Committee. Its sponsor, Hosmer, had requested that it be reviewed by the Plans & Policies Committee. Jenson offered his strong support, noting, “I think it is increasingly important to limit the ability to influence politics by how big your pocketbook is and ensure that we’re operating transparently and accountably,” he said.