Springfield City Council held a public hearing last night on the city’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal, which drew a strong turnout from the Springfield Police Officers' Association and concern from individuals over possible building permit rate hikes.
The overall budget introduced at last night’s council meeting was down roughly 1.5 percent to $311 million from $316 million, due largely to a reduction in available grant funds, said Springfield Finance Director Mary Mannix Decker.
The downward pressure on revenue has council members looking for places to cut, even as they aim to increase city salaries and public safety staff. During the next few months, council plans to hold a series of budget meetings – beyond the June 30 deadline for adoption of the fiscal 2015 budget – to find areas where the city can trim expenses to free revenue for more police officers, Councilman Jeff Seifried said this morning.
About 50 Springfield Police Officers' Association members held a rally outside City Hall before last night’s meeting calling for more officers to fight rising crime. Mike Evans, president of the association, said he hoped staffing needs would be addressed soon.
“In the last decade, we’ve seen violent crime in our city more than double,” Evans said. “In 2013, the citizens of Springfield stood a one in 10 chance of being a crime victim. My own members reported 144 incidents of assault during their jobs in line with their duties. While crime and violence continue to increase year after year, we struggle to meet our own authorized staffing levels in the Police Department.
“While we do not believe the budget as presented addresses our concerns, we do know that our concerns have not fallen on deaf ears,” he said, referring to the May 27 City Council luncheon, where plans for a full council review of budget priorities were discussed.
Seifried said budget discussions would include adjusting building permit fees, among other areas.
“While we do have a process for reviewing the budget, this process did not allow us to really dig in where we wanted to to look at making needed adjustments. We have to pass a balanced budget to continue operation of the city, but we can make adjustments at any time,” Seifried said. “Over the last couple of weeks, council has looked at a number of options to raise revenue and reduce expenses. One of those happened to be developer fees."
Currently, the minimum charge of a building plan review is $175, though the fee varies based on complexity. The proposed minimum could reach as high as $1,023, according to a handout provided to council members.
Melissa Higbie, a partner with Esterly Schneider & Associates, was one of three speakers at the meeting who said it was important that council not sacrifice economic development in the pursuit of revenue for public safety and other priorities.
“I think we run a great risk if we raise minimum building permits,” Higby said. “For instance, if you have a small business that is getting ready to do a small project and you tell them a building permit could cost $1,000 or more, and it is only a $5,000 project, we run the risk first of them not doing the project or, secondly, doing the project without a building permit.”
The fiscal 2015 General Revenue Fund is projected to increase by 3 percent to $76.5 million, according to the proposed budget. The fund growth estimate is aggressive, according to Decker, compared to recent years when revenue has increased between 2 and 2.5 percent annually. Decker said the bold budget plan is based on an estimated 3 percent jump in sales tax revenue, which she said is in line with national economic forecasts from the Federal Reserve Board.
The proposed budget also includes $1.5 million identified for city staff pay raises, a comprehensive insurance program to cover all departments and a 2.5 percent spike in licenses, permits and fees.
Decker said the 2015 budget proposal adds nine new firefighters to the Springfield Fire Department and five new police officers – positions that were initially grant-funded. Total grant revenue is projected to shrink by 13 percent in fiscal 2015 to $18.3 million from over $21 million.
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