Springfield tax advisory board recommends $1M for neighborhoods, parks 

Last edited 2:02 p.m., Nov. 21, 2025 [Editor's note: Collin Quigley's title has been corrected.]

The city of Springfield’s Citizens’ Advisory Board – the body charged with recommending investments from the Spring Forward SGF sales tax – voted to suggest $1 million in expenditures on neighborhoods and parks at its meeting Nov. 19. 

City Council must approve recommendations from the CAB, which previously voted to put $30 million forecast to be generated by the tax in fiscal 2026 toward a proposed convention and events center. The fiscal year runs through June 30, 2026, and early estimates put a year’s proceeds from the half-cent portion of the tax monitored by the body at roughly $30 million. 

The funds within CAB’s purview come from a half-cent portion of a three-quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in November 2024. The other quarter-cent of the tax funds public safety, including a police and fire pension fund obligation. 

The CAB voted unanimously to recommend that council invest $500,000 for the creation of neighborhood plans for 24 neighborhoods that do not have such initiatives in place and to invest another $500,000 toward a parks master plan. The parks master plan expenditure would cover Fassnight Park, Grant Beach Park, Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, Sequiota Park and Silver Springs Park. 

Council is expected to consider the recommendation at its single December meeting, set for Dec. 15. 

A news release from the city explains the importance of neighborhood plans to bridge high-level visions with what happens on the ground. 

“When a neighborhood plan is adopted, it becomes a shared reference point for city staff, nonprofit partners, schools, utilities and private developers,” said Steve Childers, director of Planning and Development, in the release. “Everyone works from the same roadmap.” 

Neighborhood plans are formulated with stakeholder input, the release states. 

“This ensures decisions about land use, housing, transportation, parks and economic development reflect what the people who live there actually want and need,” Childers said in the release. 

Park master plans also serve as a stakeholder-guided roadmap for investment and maintenance, according to the release, and they typically provide guidance for 10-20 years.  

Ron Schneider, director of parks, said master plans help in the event that a budget requires work to be completed in phases. 

“The planning process helps us prioritize improvements, plan realistic budgets, coordinate grants and partnerships, and avoid piecemeal decisions that don’t fit a larger vision,” he said in the release. 

So far, the CAB has invested $30 million worth of tax funds as a required one-to-one match for $30 million tentatively allocated by the state of Missouri for a convention and events center for the city. Those state funds are restricted, meaning they can be released only at the discretion of Gov. Mike Kehoe. Earlier this month, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have provided a 3% increase to the city’s tax for overnight guest accommodations in the city’s hotels, motels and short-term rentals. 

At the CAB meeting, Deputy City Manager Collin Quigley said whether or how council will move forward on the convention and event center is unclear. 

“Obviously, you saw the result of the election,” he said. “That was a huge component to funding the facility – paying the debt service and operations of it – so we don’t have that piece, which is significant.” 

He said council is looking at its options, but no decisions have been made. 

“Obviously, it’s a project that is needed – it’s a worthwhile project,” Quigley said. “We still have the match with the state as a possibility that is out there, and so stay tuned.” 

But Quigley indicated that despite the failure of the ballot measure, the idea of a convention and event center remains alive. 

“It’s a project that I know council’s still considering. What it looks like, how it comes back and so forth, I think all options are really on the table at this point,” he said. 

He clarified that the tax money remains allocated by council to the event center, and the city’s budget has been amended to include the $30 million. 

In addition to its $30 million allocation for the convention and event center, CAB has recommended – and council has approved – a $500,000 allocation from fiscal 2026 proceeds for consultant work on projects proposed in the city’s Neighborhood Works Plus program. 

The CAB is considering, but has not officially recommended, $10 million for parks and trails improvements and $5 million for community and neighborhood projects in fiscal 2027, as recapped in a presentation by Dan Smith, Springfield’s Public Works director. It is also looking at how much to invest from the tax into the ongoing Springfield Art Museum renovation project. 

New to Wednesday’s meeting, CAB members discussed the idea of focusing investments on a hub that expands out from the Springfield Art Museum project. 

Clif Smart, retired former president of Missouri State University and a member of the CAB, was amenable, though he made a case for spreading investment around the city. 

“If that were the major project that we funded first – setting the event center aside; who the hell knows what’s going to happen to that, right? – but if that were the major project, well then you would hope down the road the group would be looking to fund a major project somewhere else, not right next door to that project,” he said. 

Many CAB members expressed an interest in spending some of the tax money in a way that would be visible to community members who voted on it. The board anticipates finalizing some recommendations at its December meeting. 

Smith showed that taxes began being collected at the end of fiscal 2025, with $7.2 million received. The city anticipates $31 million to be collected in fiscal 2026, with proceeds rising each year, through $46.3 million in 2034. Interest earnings are also anticipated. Total revenue including interest earnings are calculated at $374 million through 2035.