Mary Hansen
The State Journal-Register
The Springfield City Council approved just one of Mayor Jim Langfelder’s four proposed tax hikes Tuesday, upping the tax on hotel rooms from 6 percent to 7 percent. The aldermen rejected hikes in sales and telecommunications taxes and the creation of a levy on natural gas, all aimed at bridging a multimillion-dollar gap in revenues and expenses.
The city will look at slowing hiring, dipping into city reserves and cutting contractual services, which might include paying for additional snow plow trucks during storms, Langfelder said after the meeting.
Several aldermen responded Monday by putting forward their ideas to balance the books, which the council briefly debated at its meeting. The suggestions included a 2 percent reduction in operating spending from the city’s main coffers that would save $350,000; not hiring for current vacancies; delaying major repairs to the Municipal Center Complex; and having City Water, Light and Power repay $1.3 million of the $4.4 million used to bail out the utility two years ago.
Still, without the tax increases, the city is looking at an almost $4 million deficit if spending remains as proposed, budget director Bill McCarty said after the meeting.
Hotel tax
By a vote of 6 to 4, aldermen OK’d a 1-percentage point hike in hotel tax after a contentious discussion on what would be done with the additional money. About $500,000 would go toward operation of Oak Ridge Cemetery. The city has subsidized the cemetery with about that amount for the past few years.
Council members and representatives of local hotels sparred about how the city would spend the projected additional $100,000, deciding in a divided vote to devote the funds to downtown tourism and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The hotel representatives wanted an advisory council of community members with ties to the hospitality industry to decide how the money would be spent, while some aldermen wanted the council to have the final say.
Ward 2 Ald. Herman Senor, Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi, Ward 5 Ald. Andrew Proctor, Ward 6 Ald. Barry Becker, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen voted in favor of the hike, while Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner, Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer and Donelan voted “no.”
Failed votes on tax increases
Sales tax, 9-1
No: Redpath, Senor, Turner, Fulgenzi, Proctor, McMenamin, Theilen, Donelan, Hanauer
Yes: Becker
Telecom tax, 6-4
No: Redpath, Senor, Turner, Proctor, Donelan, Hanauer
Yes: Fulgenzi, Becker, McMenamin, Theilen
Natural gas tax, 7-3
No: Redpath, Senor, Turner, Proctor, Theilen, Donelan, Hanauer,
Yes: Fulgenzi, Becker, McMenamin
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 