The City of Springfield will have three measures on the April 4 municipal ballot.
The first measure will ask Springfield voters whether to repeal the existing 5% hotel/motel/tourist court tax and replace it with a licensing tax at the same 5% rate for hotels, motels and tourist courts and add short-term rentals (Airbnbs, Vrbos). The other two measures are amendments to Springfield’s City Charter.
Hotel/Motel Tax
Ballot language
Shall the City of Springfield, Missouri:
• Repeal the existing five percent license tax (which includes a minimum license tax of $5 per monthly license) imposed on the business of renting, leasing, or letting living quarters, sleeping accommodations, rooms, or a part thereof, in connection with any hotel, motel or tourist court, of which two and one-half percent will end upon the repayment of debt issued for the Jordan Valley park projects; and
• Replace it with a five percent license tax, to be effective on July 1, 2023, imposed on the business of renting, leasing, or letting living quarters, sleeping accommodations, rooms, or a part thereof, in connection with any hotel, motel, tourist court, or short-term rental, derived from or paid by transient guests for sleeping accommodations, and to be allocated as follows for the benefit of the local economy.
- Forty-seven percent of tax proceeds used to promote travel and tourism,
- Four and one-half percent of tax proceeds used to attract and host sporting events,
- Four and one-half percent of tax proceeds used to support the arts and cultural tourism, and
- The balance of tax proceeds used to pay debt service for bonds issued under the prior license tax and to fund capital improvements, including by issuing and paying debt service for bonds, to attract travel and tourism?
On April 4, the City of Springfield will submit to qualified voters a question whether to repeal the City’s three-tiered license tax of 5% of gross receipts on hotels, motels and tourist courts and replace it with a new license tax of 5% of gross receipts on hotels, motels, tourist courts and adding short-term rentals. Upon passage, the new licensing tax would become effective July 1.
The City adopted by ordinance in 1979 (prior to Missouri’s adoption of the Hancock Amendment) a license tax for hotels, motels and tourist courts based on gross receipts. Voters authorized increases in 1998 for funding Jordan Valley Park projects and related debt service (with expiration when bonds have been repaid) and in 2004 for funding to attract sporting events and conventions and to retain a tourist information center increasing the licensing tax to 5%.
The proposed replacement tax would continue at the same 5% rate and would consolidate three separate taxes into one that will not expire (one-half of the existing tax expires when the bonds for Jordan Valley Park are paid off. That is projected in the year 2028). Removing the sunset and modifying the tax structure increases funding for sports and arts and cultural tourism and continues the funding into the future.
Distribution
Amendments to the City Charter
Springfield’s City Charter was adopted in 1953. It serves as Springfield’s constitution. Any amendments to the charter require a vote of the people it serves. The City is asking Springfield voters to consider amendments to the City Charter in three areas:
Contracts/bidding
Ballot language
Shall Section 2.16(25) of the Springfield City Charter be amended to authorize that an ordinance approving acceptance of a bid and entry into contract with the successful bidder may be passed at the City Council meeting at which it is introduced?
This ballot measure proposes an amendment to section 2.16 of the City Charter, pertaining to contracts and bidding and would allow the City Council to approve acceptance of a bid and entry into a contract with the successful bidder in the same City Council meeting.
Passage of this amendment would reduce the time to award bids and contracts by at least two weeks, which may increase the number of bidders.
Reducing the approval time improves the City’s ability to fit a project into the construction season. With the complexity of Public Works projects (right of way acquisition, utility conflicts, federal approvals, etc.), it can be very difficult to start the project as early in the construction season as possible. Some items such as asphalt paving, come late in the project and cannot occur once the weather gets too cold. In those cases, finishing the projects may be delayed until the following spring. Avoiding the delay can improve our service level to the community and potentially reduce costs.
One of the reasons decreasing the approval time could help attract more bidders relates to the current challenges with the supply chain. Once the contractor submits a bid, they are at risk to changes in pricing for the materials needed for a project. Shortening the approval time reduces their risk of commodity prices going up and makes it more attractive to bid a project. Reduced risk can also result in better bids for the City.
This amendment would in no way change adopted bidding requirements. If approved, this Charter change would go into effect upon passage.
Human Resources/hiring
Ballot language
Shall Sections 3.3, 6.1, 6.2, 6.5, 6.6, and 6.7 of the Springfield City Charter be amended to change the word “personnel” to the phrase “human resources,” authorize the city manager to allow the director of human resources to remove some types of non-regular employees, revise the list of positions in the unclassified service to add some positions and remove others, add provisions related to employee reinstatement and promotion, expand the application of the veterans’ preference to all veterans of the United States armed forces who served active duty and were honorably discharged, and revise the provision authorizing a five-point veterans’ preference to a requirement to provide a reasonable veterans’ preference?
If approved, this ballot measure would make several wording updates to the City Charter, such as replacing the word “Personnel” with “Human Resources,” allow the City to provide a hiring preference to all honorably discharged veterans who served active duty and delegate authority to the Human Resources director to remove certain categories of employees, revising the description of “classified employees.”
The ballot measure also addresses protocols for former employees requesting reinstatement to their former position and provides a possible option for the director of Human Resources to waive the testing requirement when they seek reinstatement in less than one year.