Mary Hansen
The State Journal-Register
After passing a spending plan for the fiscal year that began March 1 that didn’t include money for new equipment, the Springfield City Council will consider using funds set aside for street and sidewalk maintenance to pay for public works vehicles. The plan is to funnel $500,000 a year for the next 10 years from maintenance funds to purchase equipment for the city’s tree-removal, snow-plowing and street-repair efforts.
The council will also weigh a proposal allowing aldermen to use money from the infrastructure fund for other purposes. The measure is a follow-through on a plan from a few aldermen to divert $750,000 meant to pay for roof repairs on the municipal center toward the city’s general expenses, and then use tax increment financing funds to pay for the roof.
The infrastructure fund in question draws money from portions of Springfield’s hotel and sales taxes as well as all of the video gaming taxes and fees. Last year, it received about $13.8 million in sales tax revenue, $1.2 million in hotel taxes and $1.6 million in video gaming money.
The last time the council approved increasing the sales tax was in 2013 in order to fund a more than $80 million, three-year infrastructure improvement plan proposed by then-Mayor Mike Houston.
At the time, Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner and Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen supported the hike from 8 percent to 8.5 percent, while Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin voted against it.
The three-year plan for paving new streets and putting in new sidewalks expired last year, but the city continues to use the $18.5 million a year from the dedicated taxes and built up revenue to pay for maintenance and another $8 million to pay for the debt.
Continuing to pay for maintenance and repaying debt on the three-year plan is exactly what the fund was intended to do, said budget director Bill McCarty.
Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi defended the idea of using infrastructure money for vehicles. He pointed out that Mayor Jim Langfelder’s proposal to levy a new 4 percent tax on natural gas partly to pay for equipment, which Fulgenzi supported, was voted down.
Further, an idea backed by him and McMenamin to create a motor fuel tax to buy equipment never gained traction. McMenamin agreed that using infrastructure funds wasn’t his first choice, but the proposal is still consistent with the original intent to use it for roads and sidewalks.
“We need the equipment,” he said. “… I would have preferred the other two approaches better, but it’s all about compromise. So, this is the best we can do.”
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Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan emphasized that the intent is for it to be a one-time transfer because of the tough economic situation the city is dealing with. Donelan, one of the sponsors, said he’s open to talking with the council about changes to make the ordinance narrower.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 