PAC contributions for lodging tax issue reported to Missouri Ethics Commission

Last edited 1:40 p.m., April 2, 2026 [Editor's note: New information has been added.]

Three registered political action committees spent a combined total of just under $80,000 in the run-up to an April 7 ballot measure to enact a 3% lodging tax, according to required campaign finance reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Another at least $20,000 of money from public entites had also been spent a week before Election Day.

The 35-year tax is being sought by the city of Springfield to cover the costs of a bond to fund a proposed downtown convention and events center.

March 30 was the due date for campaign financial reports to be turned into the Missouri Ethics Commission eight days before the election. The closing date for each report was March 26, so any donations made after March 26 will appear on required 30-day post-election reports.

Committee for the Future
The political action committee of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Committee for the Future, has spent $44,186 to date to promote the lodging tax, according to its MEC filing.

The committee’s treasurer is Gordon Elliott, president and CEO of Elliott Lodging Ltd. At the close of the current reporting period, it has remaining cash on hand of $48,267.

No monetary receipts were disclosed for the reporting period or for this election cycle.

All expenditures, aside from a $34 bank fee, were reported to have gone to Davenport, Iowa-based Objective Strategies for a mailing list, printing and postage, and a digital billboard design. The committee has sent multiple promotional mailers to voters’ homes. The Objective Strategies website shows that the business is located in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

Friends of SGF
A new committee formed specifically to support the lodging tax measure, Friends of SGF reported spending $25,642 from its establishment Feb. 24 through March 26 in its MEC filing. This was out of total monetary contributions of $51,000 in the same period, for remaining money on hand of $25,358. The treasurer for Friends of SGF, as for Committee for the Future, is Elliott.

The top donation level was $5,000 received from: Coalition for Building a Better Tomorrow; Greater Springfield Realtor Party PAC; Bryan Magers, owner of Bryan Properties LLC; and Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC.

Giving $2,500, the second-highest level reported, were four entities: Great Southern Bank; Marshall Kinne, a third-party administrator executive with Point C; Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co.; and SRC Holdings Corp.

There were two $1,500 donors: Davis Property Management LLC and William C. Marrs, principal and CEO of Governmental Services Group Inc.

Giving $1,000 were Logan Aguirre, publisher/owner of Whitaker Publishing LLC; Commerce Bank; Gordon Elliott; Guaranty Bank; Bob Helm, partner at Elliott, Robinson & Co. LLP; Gordon Kinne, self-employed consultant; KPM CPAs & Advisors; Alina Lehnert, self-employed; Keith and Brenda Noble, president of Commerce Bank’s Springfield region and spouse; Paragon Architecture LLC; Thomas Prater, physician with Mattax-Neu-Prater Eye Center Inc.; Gary Schafer II, managing partner with Forvis Mazars LLP; Jeff Schrag, Springfield mayor, listed as self-employed; Ryan Sivill, accountant with Forvis Mazars LLP; and Lucas Westerman, owner of Big Bear Shredding LLC.

Other notable names were Shane Cowger, president of Arvest Bank, giving $500; Bob Dixon, Greene County presiding commissioner, giving $200; Tracy Kimberlin, lobbyist for the Missouri Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and former director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc., now Visit Springfield, Missouri, giving $500; Matt Morrow, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, giving $500; and John Myers, president of Mercy Springfield Communities, giving $400.

As with Committee for the Future, Friends of SGF spent all of its money, aside from $28 in credit card processing fees, with Objective Strategies, which provided corrugated plastic signs, a flyer, digital media and multimedia messaging service texts. Friends of SGF’s MEC report shows some $25,642 in expenditures for the period, with $25,358 in cash on hand as of March 26.

CLC Committee
Large-format yard signs promoting the election have also been put up by the Springfield Central Labor Council Committee on Political Education PAC. The CLC is part of the Missouri AFL-CIO.

The organization’s treasurer is listed by the MEC as Brian Brawley.

The CLC reported $22,367 in total monetary receipts and $11,900 in total contributions made for the election.

Springfield Central Labor Council was the only contributor in the reporting period, with two contributions of $5,000 and $3,500.

CLC total expenditures were $9,767. In the period covered by the report, $2,710 went to The Ink Spot for signs and $4,725 went to Lamar for billboards.

Other expenditures
The committee expenditures join those of the city of Springfield and the city’s convention and visitors bureau, Visit Springfield, Missouri, which provided funds for an information campaign that both organizations characterized as educational instead of promotional, in keeping with Missouri law, which bars the use of public funds for advocacy of a ballot measure.

In Springfield Business Journal reporting of March 26, the city reported having spent $6,435, mostly on printing and postage.

SBJ requested total election expenditures from Visit Springfield, but officials declined. An invoice provided by television station KY3 for the organization shows an expenditure of $13,944 on 29 commercial spots.

With all of these contributions added, total reported expenditures for the April 7 election, not counting the remaining Visit Springfield expenditures, come to just $26 short of $100,000 so far, with a week remaining before election day.