City Beat: Council member urges oversight of taxing districts

Springfield City Council approved the establishment of the North Glenstone Community Improvement District at its meeting Feb. 9, but one council member cautioned that oversight is needed for special taxing districts in the city.

The 172-acre North Glenstone CID will collect a 1% sales tax within boundaries, which encompass North Glenstone Avenue between Interstate 44 and East Turner Street.

The tax is intended to fund improvements and services aimed at beautifying and improving security in the district, according to the explanation of the council bill.

The district’s location south of I-44 and leading into the city makes it a visible entry point for travelers entering the city.

A cooperative agreement between the CID and the city projects that $1.5 million per year will go to security services, including personnel, vehicle expenses, security equipment and facilities, with $144,000 going toward beautification, to cover expenses like landscaping, roads, streets, sidewalks, seating and trash receptacles.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson said the agreement is a great model of using a CID to make improvements in a targeted area where the city might otherwise not have the resources to do so.

“I hope that it begins to be utilized by neighborhoods who might be interested in making these same types of services available,” he said. “This is a great resource to make those types of investments.”

Jenson said council members had received communication expressing concerns about the city’s oversight of community improvement districts – separate political subdivisions established to collect tax revenues to fund public improvements and services.

“While this specific project is an example of how CIDs can be properly used, we have seen examples just since I’ve been on council where developers use these special taxing districts to pay for costs that would normally be borne by the property owner,” he said.

He mentioned recent examples, including the Galloway and Sunshine Towne Centre CIDs, that he said failed to meet reporting and governance requirements. Jenson said this was due to limited oversight ability of the city.

“In light of all this, it does seem worthwhile for council to look at how we are structuring our agreements with community improvement districts, and how those districts may be amended and reported upon in alignment with state law,” he said.

He added that he did not have those concerns for the North Glenstone CID.

The person who raised a concern in a letter to council was Springfield resident and independent government watchdog Linda Simkins, who provided a copy of her letter to Springfield Business Journal.

In it, Simkins said most CIDs provide reimbursement for infrastructure improvements and a direct community benefit.

She cited the Downtown Springfield CID, which provides security for large public spaces, and the Commercial Street CIDs as good examples.

“The proposed North Glenstone CID provides none of these benefits, is not a large public space and is a direct benefit to private owners, primarily two large Springfield hotel property owners,” she wrote.

Simkins called on council to place a moratorium on CIDs until it can establish an oversight and enforcement policy.

She noted that this would be the city’s 22nd CID – up from only nine a decade ago – and council cannot enforce transparency and accountability after it approves a CID.

Simkins also maintained that the North Glenstone CID does not meet a required public purpose almost all of its first-year proceeds going to security services on private property.

“A property owner has the responsibility to provide its own security, and hotel owners have a heightened responsibility to its guests and most likely required by its insurance carrier,” Simkins wrote.

The proposed district encompasses 48 parcels, according to past SBJ reporting. For 13 of the parcels, petitions were signed by hotelier Gordon Elliott, while petitions for six parcels were signed by Darren Harralson, listed on a document as chief operating officer of O’Reilly Hospitality LLC.

Neither Tim O’Reilly, CEO and managing member of O’Reilly Hospitality, nor representatives of Elliott Lodging responded to a request for comment in time for this publication.

PIC West success
Council accepted the dedication of public streets and easements from Partnership Industrial Center West, Phase 14, at 1200 N. Haseltine Road.

Amanda Ohlensehlen, director of economic vitality and workforce development, said Partnership Industrial Center East was fully built out and turned over to its current owners, while Partnership Industrial Center West is a continued public-private partnership.

Ohlensehlen said there are only two lots remaining in PIC West, and one is under contract.

“If things progress, then there essentially would be one available within PIC West,” she said.

Jenson called the PIC industrial parks one of the most successful partnerships the community has ever engaged in.

He said they were a product of a collaboration between the city, City Utilities of Springfield, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Business Development Corp.

“These are the types of big things that our city can achieve when all of the entities are working together,” he said.

He asked Ohlensehlen if the city should be looking at additional industrial center development sites or at private parties to carry on industrial site development.

“I would say both,” Ohlensehlen said, adding that a technical analysis is now occurring among city leadership and partner agencies for placement of a possible future park. This will ensure that the city has industrial inventory is available, she said.

“We have a very low industrial vacancy rate, and so having available site readiness is an important goal, not only for Springfield and our region, but also for the state of Missouri,” she said.

Other action items

• A $267,000 appropriation from the state of Missouri was accepted through Visit Springfield, Missouri, for street and right-of-way improvements to install the Queen’s Gate 66 monument on St. Louis Street near the intersection of Glenstone Avenue.

• A $251,000 increase to the fiscal 2026 budget of Visit Springfield, Missouri, was approved with a projected increase of about $150,000 in room tax revenue.

• A $435,000 contract with UHY Advisors Mid-Atlantic Inc. was approved for internal audit services.