City Beat: Two committees to oversee 3/4-cent city tax

The three-quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in November will be overseen by two boards, one existing and one new.

The new Citizens’ Advisory Board joins the existing Citizens’ Tax Oversight Committee in monitoring the tax dollars under a bill passed by Springfield City Council at its meeting Jan. 13.

The council measure calls for the Citizens’ Advisory Board to be active until March 30, 2035. Applications for rolling three-year board positions are being accepted by the city until Jan. 31. Council will choose seven to 11 members to serve on the entity. Members must have lived or worked in Springfield for at least one year.

The formation of the Citizens’ Advisory Board is an accountability measure promised to voters in the lead-up to the ballot measure and in its authorizing ordinance. That board will make recommendations to council regarding the portion of the tax that will fund city projects that are consistent with the Forward SGF comprehensive plan.

“Some illustrative examples of that that appeared in the ballot were capital improvements, community and neighborhood initiatives and park projects,” City Attorney Jordan Paul said.

In addition to the citizen advisers, the bill also calls for all revenue collected through the tax to be overseen by the Citizens’ Tax Oversight Committee, which already oversees revenue from the city’s quarter-cent capital improvement sales tax, its eighth-cent transportation sales tax, its level property tax and the soon-to-expire three-quarter-cent police and firefighters pension fund sales tax that the new measure replaces.

According to ballot language, one-quarter cent of the tax is permanent and will continue paying into the Police and Fire Pension Fund, like the three-quarter-cent tax the new measure replaces, and also will fund public safety measures, including salary increases for police and fire personnel.

The other half-cent of the tax is earmarked for initiatives from the 20-year comprehensive plan. This portion of the tax is scheduled to sunset in 10 years unless voters renew it.

The explanation of the bill provided by Paul spells out the criteria the committee will use in recommending projects. Whether the tax should fund a proposed project will be based on whether it meets certain criteria, including the possibility of completion without debt obligation, eligibility for matching funds, generation of sales tax, creation of jobs and improvement of livability in the city.

“All that is incorporated into the resolution, so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle,” Paul said.

Springfield Underground project OK’d
Council authorized a $2.3 million cost-share agreement for roadway improvements with Erlen Group, which operates Springfield Underground.

The public-private partnership will construct improvements to LeCompte Road from Division Street north to the BNSF Railway tracks, as well as an extension of Eastgate Avenue north of Division Street and a shared-use path along Eastgate Avenue and LeCompte Road.

In a related bill, council passed a measure to accept budget stabilization funds of $3.4 million from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to fund part of the LeCompte Road improvement project.

Annexations approved
Three annexation measures brought 115 acres into the city, in keeping with a council objective to expand the city limits by acting on existing consent-to-annex agreements, many of which were signed by former landowners decades ago. Council support for the measures was unanimous among the seven voting members present, with Monica Horton and Heather Hardinger absent.

Consent-to-annex agreements exist for about 8,000 acres of land. In most of these cases, property owners agreed to annexation at a future, undetermined date in exchange for city sewer service. Some annexations being pursued by the city are at property owners’ requests.

New annexations were approved for the following properties:

• 39.5 acres of private property located in and around the 4000 block of West Republic Road, currently containing offices, single-family and duplex dwelling units as well as the Silverleaf Apartments and undeveloped property

• 49.4 acres of private property located in and around the 2900 block of West Republic Road, containing some commercial and industrial properties, like a Great Southern Bank Express, a Valvoline Instant Oil Change and Premier Polishing, as pictured in the city staff’s report on the council bill

• 25.7 acres of private property located at 6116 S. Farm Road 175, undeveloped land that is targeted for residential development

Much of the annexed land lies within areas designated by city planners as Priority 1 annexation areas. These are identified as promising areas for future economic and job growth. The 49.4-acre tract is a Priority 3 property, deemed as representing a long-term growth area.

Councilmember Craig Hosmer praised Mayor Ken McClure for his leadership in annexation.

“For any city that’s growing and a city that’s thriving, I think it’s important that we annex, especially when we’re surrounded by other cities that have historically been more aggressive in their annexation policies,” he said. “That’s an important thing for the future of the city of Springfield.”

Other action items

• A vote on a $40,000 agreement with BNSF Railway was postponed pending more study. BNSF wants to do a feasibility study to increase the height of the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge in the heart of Commercial Street as part of a planned renovation project. McClure said postponing the vote until the Jan. 27 meeting will ensure council has as much clarity as possible about raising the footbridge. The measure is in response to a request from BNSF, and the bridge renovation project timeline is not impacted by it.

• Three zoning measures were approved: 16.5 acres at 315 E. Weaver Road, to highway commercial from single-family residential as requested by Ward Weaver Property LLC to build a retail garden center to be operated by property owner Michael Fessenden; 1.3 acres at 1910 W. Division St. and 1455 N. Wabash Ave., to highway commercial from general manufacturing as requested by David Rensch so the property owner can sell it for use as a Dollar General Store; and 3 acres at 1914 E. Blaine St. to industrial commercial from general manufacturing as requested by AVS Sunset LLC to establish a car dealership on the property.

• A redevelopment plan with blight declaration was approved for the 521 Boonville Redevelopment Area, located on the west side of North Boonville Avenue between West Tampa and West Phelps streets. The measure clears the way for redevelopment of an existing building in the city’s innovation district into a headquarters for Dake Wells Architecture.

• Carbon reduction funds of $402,209 were accepted from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to design a shared-use path to cross the intersection of Sunset Street and Glenstone Avenue. The city is required to provide a 20% local match, according to Evan Bergmann, a transportation engineer with the city, but he said the Missouri Department of Transportation is committed to providing half of the local match. Bergmann noted two other city projects will extend the South Creek Greenway Trail farther to the east from its current terminus in McDaniel Park to ultimately cross Glenstone Avenue and end on its east side at an existing city sidewalk.

• First readings of two measures to enter into grade crossing signal installation agreements with BNSF were held by council. A $460,000 agreement would install new signal equipment at Boonville Avenue, and a $74,000 agreement would do the same at Campbell Avenue. City Public Works Director Dan Smith said the Jordan Creek daylighting project impacts both railroad crossings. The proposed agreements would allow BNSF to do the replacement work and be reimbursed by the city.