Guest Column: Smaller sales tax seems only pension fund fix

Editor's note: City Councilman Doug Burlison sent this letter to media outlets, city officials and fellow council members. It is printed here with Burlison's permission.

Nearly four months have passed since we, as a community, went to the polls to decide whether or not to approve a 1-cent sales tax to fix the Springfield Police-Fire Pension Fund. By a slim majority, the vote was against this proposal. Disregarding the one-time funds that have been contributed, instead of just more than $13 million being injected into the fund by a new tax, we've let the liability get almost $4.5 million deeper in debt without it.

It is undeniable that this is the position that we, as a city, find ourselves in right now. We have created a citizen's task force to dive into this pension fund issue, to evaluate different approaches, and to make a final recommendation for City Council to act upon.

As the citizen who called for an audit of this city, and now as a member of it's governing council, I have gone through a cycle of skepticism, investigation and evaluation of my own. I am very appreciative of having a resource like this task force available to take an in-depth, independent look at the various proposals offered.

In light of that, I would offer up another proposal. I would ask the task force to analyze the impact of a new, one-time (with a five-year sunset) O-cent sales tax, plus one-half of the next renewal of the N-cent capital improvements projects tax to supplement the pension fund. Perhaps this, coupled with other task force recommendations, could get us to the once-and-for-all remedy.

Beyond just crunching the numbers, I also am aware of the political considerations to keep in mind:

• This community has a very low appetite and capacity for taxes.

• Job No. 1 for any level of government around here is public safety, with critical public infrastructure coming in at a close second.

• We want to solve this pension problem, not just put a Band-Aid on it so our kids will have to take care of what we couldn't.

• We have to be competitive with other cities if we want to maximize our Police and Fire training dollars and retain qualified personnel.

I feel like the ladies and gentlemen of our public safety departments have their fingers on the pulse of what it takes to actively compete with other municipalities for (and to keep) good quality police and fire officers. To affect a workable solution to this problem will require their input. To place their negotiated benefits under the microscope may stop a couple of minor fiscal leaks, for which the pension board already recommended repairs, but it won't make a dent in the big picture.

The overall problem, however, will take great fiscal effort, and perhaps the swallowing of some political pride to handle it effectively. Simply satisfying the state statute is nowhere near a long-term fix, and not handling this now will absolutely result in the price tag getting much higher. If we continue to not adequately address this problem, lawyers and judges are going to force a solution on us, and that price tag will be astronomical.

It is with these thoughts in mind that I respectfully request the Police and Fire Pension Task Force consider this proposal.Doug Burlison is a member of Springfield City Council.