City Beat: Mayor, council member try to tackle unpaid business taxes

On the heels of Springfield City Council’s passage of an ordinance allowing cars to be impounded for nonregistration, that measure’s sponsors turned their attention to a new compliance issue: unpaid personal property taxes by businesses.

Councilmember Craig Hosmer and Mayor Ken McClure proposed an ordinance at the March 24 council meeting that would require proof of payment of all personal property taxes owed by a business as a prerequisite for obtaining an occupational license. Both St. Louis and Kansas City have a similar requirement in place, according to City Attorney Jordan Paul.

Hosmer called the latest proposed ordinance a tax equity issue, similar in nature to the recently approved vehicle ordinance.

“This, I think, is also for tax equity,” he said. “If businesses aren’t paying their personal property tax, they should be equally as responsible as any individual to pay what their fair share of what their tax obligations are.”

Following a lengthy and spirited discussion, council ultimately forwarded the measure to its Plans and Policies Committee for further review. Only the two sponsors voted against the referral.

Hosmer voiced his objection to the move.

“I don’t think it should be sent to committee, because the last time my bills get sent to committee, they never seem to come back,” he said.

Councilmember Abe McGull said the committee is the place to iron out issues with council bills.

“You’re asking us in two weeks to pass this major piece of legislation that’s going to affect a lot of people – small businesses and stuff like that – they may not even know about,” McGull said. “When you start doing something enforcement wise, it takes a while to make sure that the city has the mechanism to do it. I think you get a lot of benefit by sending these particular pieces of legislation that have such a pervasive impact to a committee.”

Hosmer said council voted to allow vehicles to be towed for people who had unlicensed vehicles without sending the matter to committee for review.

“When we finally do something about businesses that don’t pay their fair share, we want to send that to committee – to delay it,” he said.

During the public comment portion of discussion, Greene County Assessor Brent Johnson said there are 11,000 business licenses in the city of Springfield, but only about 4,000 businesses have submitted personal property assessments in 2025; they are due the first of the year. About 8,000 businesses in Greene County as a whole submit assessment lists each year, he said.

While vehicle registration is dependent upon individuals paying their personal property taxes, there is no mechanism in place for ensuring that businesses do the same, Johnson said.

Greene County Collector Allen Icet said the county has 43 subdivisions with levying authority – among them school districts, libraries, rural fire districts and others. Most people live within 10-12 political subdivisions, he said, noting 70%-75% of all property taxes collected, either personal or business, go to school districts. He added that he distributes funds that are received each month.

There was no indication of when or if the measure may come back to council for further consideration.

Zoning code updated
Council approved revisions to the city’s land development code during the meeting, but one member expressed concern that the revision would have a chilling effect on housing production.

Two measures outlining multiple code revisions – aimed at clarifying requirements while also elevating design standards – were approved, each by an 8-1 vote.

Councilmember Derek Lee, an engineer and the owner of Lee Engineering & Associates LLC, was the lone holdout. Lee turned history teacher during the meeting, citing the city’s previous passage of its Revised Multifamily Development Location and Design Guidelines.

“My issue is that we did a very similar thing 15 years ago where we introduced the multifamily design guidelines to really introduce a design-based approach, and that resulted in significantly less housing, less growth in our city after it was put in than what we had before,” he said. “I don’t think this is the right time to add regulations.”

The code revision includes reorganization of requirements, with Chapter 36 including those codes that apply to Planning and Zoning and Chapter 38 to hold those governed by Building and Development Services, including international building codes.

In addition to the reorganization, there are also substantive changes to processes and procedures within the document, according to Steve Childers, the city’s director of Planning and Development.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson said the changes allow for housing development, particularly the so-called missing middle housing that the city’s Forward SGF comprehensive plan calls for. He asked that neighborhoods be aggressive in advocating for areas they would like to see developed in this way.

“These regulations, to Councilman Lee’s point, I think will add to the cost of the development, because our community is worth investing more into than what we’re currently doing in our market as it stands,” he said. “But there are ways to offset those additional costs through increasing density on your projects.”

The comprehensive plan calls for higher-quality developments, Jenson said, but it also calls for the city to partner in the process. He said he would like for the city to look at providing innovative incentives.

He added that Lee brought up a good point about design standards adding to cost while the city is trying to see more affordable housing.

“I’d be very interested if there are opportunities to offer relaxed design requirements when properties are going to be offering housing at an attainable rate,” he said.

Food desert resolution
Council unanimously passed a resolution aimed at eliminating the city’s food deserts.

The resolution, sponsored by members Heather Hardinger, Monica Horton and McClure, encourages development in food deserts to improve community health and accessibility. The resolution is one of a series being put forth by the mayor in the last weeks of his eight years in office to tackle ongoing problems in the community. The effort kicked off with a Jan. 8 challenge to residents and businesses to reduce waste, and it was followed by a proposal – passed by council – to give the Springfield Police Department the option of impounding unregistered vehicles.

A food desert is defined in the measure as an area in which residents have limited access to affordable, healthy food, especially fresh produce, whole grains and protein sources, due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers markets or community gardens.

Food deserts are most commonly found in low-income and marginalized communities, the resolution states.

Horton represents Zone 1, which has a concentration of impoverished residents.

“It’s important to raise awareness about food deserts here locally in Springfield and to see how that is ultimately even correlated with life expectancy – not to be so dramatic about it, but when you’re looking at life expectancy rates among our residents, it varies across our city,” she said.

During the public comment period, Dan Shaul, executive director of the Missouri Grocers Association, spoke in support of the resolution.

“I think every retailer in the city of Springfield is always looking for more opportunities to service their customers,” he said. “And I think if we work together, we might be able to find out how to do that.”

Other action items
• Lane splitting is no longer permitted in the city. A new ordinance prohibits motorcycles, bicycles and micromobility devices from driving between two occupied lanes of traffic flowing in the same direction.

• City-owned property totaling 429 acres was annexed by council action. The property includes tracts connected to the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park and the Springfield-Branson National Airport.

• Council allocated just over $1.3 million for improvements to the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant from the city’s clean water fund. The funds will pay for process enhancements and a centrifuge replacement. Additionally, $707,000 was allocated from the clean water fund for a foam fractionation project at the Northwest Wastewater Treatment Plant.

• A $100,000 agreement with Forvis Mazars LLP was OK’d for auditing services for City Utilities of Springfield. Council also approved the refinancing of $363 million in public utility refunding revenue bonds for CU.

• A grant from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development of $80,000 was accepted for the Department of Economic Vitality and Workforce Development. The funds will be used for workforce training and delivery of employer services. Additionally, council is scheduled to vote April 7 on whether to accept another grant from the state office for Economic Vitality and Workforce Development for preapprenticeship programs.

• A donation of $4,600 from Kingdom Krafters LLC was accepted to purchase ballistic vests for police service dogs.

• A Citizens Advisory Board to oversee a portion of a recently approved three-quarter-cent sales tax was empaneled by council vote. The eight board members are Erin Danastasio, chair, and Rusty Worley, vice chair, plus Andy Peebles, Clifton Smart, Becky Volz, Leslie Forrester, Lauren Shantz and Christina Angle.

• Two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million were accepted from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, one to build sidewalks on Mount Vernon Street and Miller Avenue near Willard Intermediate School and the other to construct the South Creek Greenway Trail from Fremont to Glenstone Avenue. The city will provide a 20% match on both projects.

• Council began the meeting by honoring the memory of solid waste operations associate Larry Flett, 62, who died in the line of duty March 24.