Local Group wants ‘housing’ added to potential SGF ¾th cent tax issue ballot language

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A bill that would extend a 3/4th cent tax issue but change the way the money is divided will be heard by Springfield City Council for the first time tonight.

“The third quarter-cent sales tax for the police and fire pension fund has been in place for 15 years, has generated approximately $45 million, gone directly into the solvency of the fund that will expire March 31, 2025. The Citizen’s Commission on Community Investment is recommending that a replacement tax be placed in, in effect, April 1st of next year,” Springfield Mayor Ken McClure said. “That would be for the same level, three quarters. A quarter of that set would be going for the remaining obligation for the police and fire pension fund, which would be $3-5 million a year, and the remaining half cent of that would be going for capital transformational projects.”

If approved at the next city council meeting on August 5, it would be placed on the November ballot for Springfield voters.

“This is an opportunity our community has for no tax increase to do some transformational things in our community, focus on public safety, focus on police and fire and do that type of thing. It’s an opportunity that we don’t have very often in this city,” McClure said.

The draft of the bill was created out of a commission of several residents of Springfield.

One of the members of that commission, Alice Barber is the head of Springfield Tenants Unite, says the ballot language should have a specific word in it.

“We want in this ballot language, we want it to specifically say housing’ on the ballot because we know that when the majority of folks who are living in Springfield are renters, that’s the majority of people paying sales tax here. That’s the majority of the voter pool,” Barber said. “We want to make it really clear that this tax can fund housing.”

McClure says just because the word ‘housing’ isn’t in the language, doesn’t mean the money couldn’t go towards projects in the future that would address the issue.

“We talk about a lot of capital improvements that we need. We talk about a lot of infrastructure that we need, public works projects, which we need. We’ve talked about trails, we’ve talked about parks, we’ve talked about housing. All of those, to me, fit in the category of transformational opportunities and needs that the city would have,” McClure said. “30 members, a wide, diverse set of comments, and citizens were represented (in the commission). The head of the STUN group was a member of that, a representative from Restore SGF, which is focusing on community housing, was represented. A representative from the Springfield Apartment Owners Association [was there]. Housing was well represented.”

Barber says despite that, many people who have opinions to share will have to share them tonight, given the timing of the commission meetings.

“There’s been a lot of folks, the majority of folks in Springfield, whose voices weren’t heard in that commission,” Barber said. “We want to make sure that those voices do get heard now that the bill has come to city council, and that’s what the first reading of the council bill is for, is for the public to give their opinion.

Barber hopes that down the road, a rental inspection program will be implemented to address poor housing conditions, like in Lawrence, Kansas.

“They have rental inspections and we don’t. So we know that rental inspections will preserve our housing stock. They’ll make our quality of life better for everyone, but it will require some additional staff and beds,” Barber said. “We know that there are several members of council who are very invested in seeing rental inspections down the line, and this absolutely fits with the policy changes that they’re also wanting to see for the city.”

Many are expected to speak this evening on the issue.

“About 60% of the people who are paying sales taxes in Springfield who would be paying this tax are renters, are the people who are most affected by our housing policy. So I think it makes perfect sense for housing to be specifically named in the ballot issue,” Barber said. “It’s just a small change. It’s in line with the spirit of the ballot issue as it is. Housing is a very important component with an entire section in our Forward SGF comprehensive plan. So all we’re asking right now is for one small change in the wording to really communicate to the majority of Springfield residents, Springfield taxpayers and Springfield voters that our needs will be considered in this tax and that the things we need will be funded.”

McClure pledges any comments will not be tossed aside.

“We always listen to the citizens’ concerns. We also give them the veracity that they need, but we also give them the weight that they need. Again, this was a unanimous commission vote,” McClure said.

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