FAQ's on the pension syste,

Pension Fund FAQs

We know many of you have questions about the Police/Fire pension fund shortall, and the 1-cent sales tax that City Manager Greg Burris has proposed to City Council to address the problem. Here's a list of frequently-asked questions we believe are important, or have heard from citizens and even City employees. Have more questions? Send them to us and we'll post the answers here.

Why is the pension underfunded?

The current underfunding has a number of causes and occurred over a long period of time. The main reasons can be boiled down to the following issues:

• The adjustment of actuarial assumptions several years ago created a more realistic assessment of lifespan predictions, anticipated years of retirement, market returns and other variables. As a result of those actuarial changes, the future funding liability increased significantly.
• Poor investment returns. As a relatively small, self-funded plan, the City's self-funded pension plan had less flexibility to weather the market downturn following the technology bubble burst and the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy.
• During four fiscal years in this decade, the City did not contribute its full recommended level of funding. This equates to about $10 million in today’s dollars for the total of those four years.
• The fund was operating with a relatively conservative investment strategy and, therefore, didn’t fully capitalize on the boom times in the stock market in the 1990s.

Actuarial readjustment caused about a 50 million dollar shortfall. Pension is currently over $167
MILLION in the RED. Much of this can be directly attributed to past city manager Tom Finnie.

How big is the problem?

As of June 30, 2008, the fund had $128 million in assets. The future funding liability is estimated at $295 million, leaving a shortfall of $167 million. The fund itself has lost about $10 million more in value since June 30 during the recent period of turmoil in world financial markets.

Although this is true I would like to point out that the issue wasn't an issue until the audit brought to lite exactly how bad it was. Current council members now plead ignorance to the issue.

Why a sales tax?

The actuarial firm hired by the Pension Board, Milliman, Inc., an international consulting and actuarial firm, told the Pension Board that the best way to address the shortfall would be to infuse the Pension Fund with as much revenue as possible, as quickly as possible. The proposed 1-cent sales tax could generate about $40 million a year, based on past performance of our sales tax revenue in Springfield. If the system takes in this amount of revenue for several years, along with the ongoing contributions by employees and the City, it is in a better position to sustain itself over the long term by generating investment returns to maintain a healthy funding level.

A sales tax is always the easiest and fastest means to infuse cash into anything, just like robbing a bank and not getting caught is the fastest way to infuse money into your own pocket, both are quite similar in design.

Why now?

Everyone working on this issue realizes the challenges that the current economic climate poses for this issue. We believe that is offset, however, by the necessity of addressing the issue because the pension fund is, in effect, losing the equivalent of $33,000 a day. That represents the amount of investment returns that the fund would generate if fully funded rather than the current funded level.

The underfunding before this year was costing Springfield $26K a day, it was deemed important enough I guess then.

When does the tax go into effect, if approved?

If approved in February 2009, the tax would go into effect as of July 1, 2009.

IF ?? One only need to threaten closure of a fire department building or cutting staff at the police department to get the required results.

What do the police and firefighters think about this?

Officers for the Police and Fire employee groups have been involved in developing the proposal presented on Oct. 23. The Springfield Firefighters association has endorsed this proposal. The Springfield Police Officers Association has not yet held a full membership meeting to consider it.

They want what is owed them just as anyone reading this would, I would be very careful of how this gets worded because currrently the suggested wording needs to be changed.

What if this tax doesn’t get approved?

City staff will begin working before the end of 2008 to develop several scenarios for the 2009-10 annual budget. Budget scenarios will include passage or failure of the sales tax referendum. That outcome also will affect the contribution rate recommended by the actuary firm. All of that information will be used to determine the level of budget cuts that will be necessary to make. In the 2008-09 budget, the City cut an additional $5.2 million from the budget to make the full, recommended contribution to the Police/Fire Pension Fund. City Manager Greg Burris has stated that he does not believe these cuts are sustainable over multiple years without initiating programmatic cuts.

One of these cuts were NOT to hire for positions within our emergency services which were vacant. I wonder if the money for these vacant positions was actually allotted in the budget or just made up out of nothing.

Why wasn’t this problem tackled five or 10 years ago?

The worst period for the pension fund has been since 2002. After it became clear through the post 9/11 market drop and the technology stocks drop that market returns were not achieving expectations, the Pension Board and the City began addressing the issues. A number of changes were made, including the Tier II pension plan for new employees hired after July 1, 2006. Other changes that have been made include revising the actuarial assumptions; reducing investment fees by 30 percent; and changing the investment allocation policy. So, actually there have been a number of changes made through the years. It became obvious fairly quickly, however, that those changes would not be enough by themselves to turn the fund around and restore it to a healthy funding level.

The level of incompetence was not fully brought to light and worked on until the state audit was made public. Allowing people to bankroll vacation, sick leave, holiday pay, and raises is something that does not occur in the private sector nor should it have been allowed to occur in the government sector.

Where did the money go in the years the City’s portion wasn’t fully funded?

The City has not made the contribution recommended by the actuary for the four years prior to the current fiscal year. The total difference between the recommended contribution and the actual amount the City did contribute to the Plan is about $10 million in today's dollars over those four fiscal years. During this period, this General Fund revenue was used to fund other important needs in the City. For example, six new positions were funded to staff new Fire Station No. 12 and new positions were funded for Emergency Communications prior to the passage of a dedicated sales tax for 911. Money also was put toward pay-plan improvements for City employees.

"During this period, this General Fund revenue was used to fund other important needs in the City" Since the city had nothing FORCING them to make this payment, and they still don't but once every five years, this money could have gone anywhere. Trying to prove the allocation of these funds is quite difficult with the accounting of the city.

Why is the City still spending money on things like the Square?

There is some City match funding in it that was allocated from the ¼-cent sales tax for capital improvements. The Park Central Square renovation is funded primarily by federal grant money. This is NOT General Fund money that could be used for the Pension Fund. Capital Improvements Sales Tax revenue cannot legally be moved into the General Fund for the Police/Fire Pension Fund or any other use other than what voters approved.

In the General Fund, there were no budget priorities approved for the 2008-09 budget year.

"The Park Central Square renovation is funded primarily by federal grant money." So in other words instead of it being taxation on the local level that gets used Uncle Roy Blunt appropriates funds from EVERY taxpaying citizen to fund the building of Park Central Square

What about the buildings the City sold at a loss downtown?

The City believes the long-term return on the development of those properties by Missouri State University will more than offset the difference between the City’s purchase price for those properties and the sales price to Missouri State. Development of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center/Brick City/IDEA Commons center is creating new jobs, investment by new companies in our community and entrepreneurial opportunities for businesses and services serving the additional population.

From a practical standpoint, the costs the City would have incurred to either raze portions of those properties or secure the facilities to prevent further decay would likely have cost about the difference in the purchase and selling prices.

The sales proceeds do not go into the General Fund, so the revenue could not be applied toward the Police/Fire pension fund.

Before this happens again I believe cost projections of this should be made public so the people can see that YES selling property at a loss will be made up with incoming tax revenue.

What about this Commercial Street tax? Are you asking for two taxes?

The proposed Commercial Street Community Improvement District is for a self-imposed sales tax that property and business owners will vote on whether to levy within a specified area on Commercial Street. This will not be on a public election ballot and will only affect a specified area to pay for improvements within that area.

NOT entirely TRUE. Building owners have the say and NO one is allowed to opt out if it is approved. Once more it is NOT the building owners paying the tax but the unaware consumer that shops in that district.

Will there be a legal obligation going forward to keep the fund solvent?

The City has a legal obligation to pay all benefits earned by employees. Under the City Charter, City Council cannot bind future City Councils; however, the pension obligation has traditionally been treated as a debt obligation by the City and therefore receives funding priority similar to other debt obligations.

Every time a new ordinance or tax is passed you collectively bind a new city council to that ruling until at such time they have time to pass new legislation or override previous legislation. Once this pension system was approved it binded future councils to fund at a level to maintain the fund. The actions of council binded this council to fund the shortfalls.

Can’t the City sell some properties, like the Ice Park, to pay for this?

If the City chose to sell assets to raise revenue for the Police/Fire Pension Fund, any debt remaining on those assets would have to be paid before any net revenue would be realized. In the case of Mediacom Ice Park, that facility is only seven years old, so it still has a debt obligation and wouldn’t realize much net revenue from a sale. That would be presuming that there are interested buyers. We also believe that the Ice Park is an important community recreation asset and like other community amenities, it is publically owned so that prices can remain reasonable enough for everyone to participate. If a private investor bought it to operate at a profit, prices to participate in Ice Park activities would likely increase.

The City Council recently approved offering a City-owned parcel of property in southwest Springfield for sale because it has potential development interest and is no longer needed for a public purpose. This property, however, is an asset of the Sanitary Services Enterprise Fund so any sales proceeds will stay with this fund.

The City is in the process of reviewing its overall inventory of City properties. If there were others with similar potential, the City Council could consider additional sales. But there are certainly not enough of those types of assets available to sell to make any significant dent in the Police/Fire pension underfunding. The General Fund does not hold very many property parcels that could be sold with revenue returning to the General Fund.

In short the Ice park has been deemed a core essential city services. Vision 20/20 is pounding you all over the head once more.

What about selling City Utilities to private investors?

This is another area where we believe it is not in the long-term best interests of our citizens to privatize our municipal utility to solve this problem. A private owner would likely have to raise rates in order to make a profit after paying the operating costs of the utility and repaying the investment. Over the long term that would be much more costly to citizens than a temporary sales tax increase that is proposed to sunset after five years.

Since C.U. collects more than its outlays I would deem that a profit for a not-for-profit entity, perhaps keeping the ledger book even should be something that C.U. should look into.

The following questions were posted earlier, but we are adding them again in an effort to keep a complete, rolling FAQ.

What is the formula to calculate the pensions?

The calculation for a normal service retirement is equal to the years of service times the multiplier times the average final salary. The current multiplier is 2.8 percent per year of service. The final average salary is the highest three years out of the last 10. The maximum amount the retiree can recieve is 70 percent of his or her final average salary. This is for the Tier 1 part of the system that covers the majority of the current employees and the retirees.

Are any current employees allowed to use sick days or vacation days in the calculation for their pensions?

Sick leave is not used in any pension calculations. Vacation time is included due to a court case the Pension System lost in 1978 (Fraker, et al, vs. City of Springfield, et al).

Is a paid actuary involved in determining the future returns and solvency of the pension plan?

Yes, the City currently uses Milliman, Inc., an international actuarial and consulting firm based in Seattle, as the actuary for the Police/Fire Pension System. You can learn more about the firm at www.milliman.com.

Why try a 1 percent increase now, when all pensions, 401(k)s, IRA's are down due to the market, as opposed to a 1/4 or 1/2 percent increase that was mentioned previously? Based upon the fluctuations of the market, there will be a surplus or deficit at different times.

The actuary did projections based on a number of models, including the 1/4- and ½-cent sales tax rates. Either of those would take the fund significantly longer to reach a healthy funding level. The ½-cent model could take up to 20 years, for instance. That length of time creates an additional level of uncertainty, particularly regarding the stock market’s performance. That, in turn, makes it more difficult to project the fund’s performance and ability to get to a level that is both healthy and sustainable. He said the quickest way to improve the fund would be to infuse it with as much revenue as possible over the shortest time possible so that it would be in a better position to reach a sustainable, healthy funding level. We also believed that a sunset provision would be a very important factor for voters in considering the ballot measure. With the 1-cent rate, we have more confidence that the healthy funding level can be achieved in 5 years, rather than trying to project an accurate sunset period for a lesser amount of sales tax with a range of 10 to 20 years for a ½-cent level and even higher for a ¼-cent level.

The city obligated us (the taxpayers) to fund all shortfalls in the system. The plan should have always been paid for via a sales tax and in that manner a constant stream of revenue would have been going into the system that city management couldn't stop or withhold. Hind sight being 20/20 government at any level wants to make sure the dollar goes through there fingers first before being appropriate elsewhere. Just look to your social security money that has been taken out of your check since starting in the workforce. The money isn't there and as a nation were 10 TRILLION in debt.

posted by Mike Brothers, Public Information

WASTEFUL spending

updated 10/29/08 chip and seal or overlayments are used to protect the original surface of the asphalt. THX to Mark Thornsberry and google for answering my questions.

Recently the city of Springfield resurfaced a section of Grant Street although I don't remember if this was done via the city or private contractor(a call has been placed for the answer). The area of these repairs were from Division Street south concluding at Chestnut Expressway. This stretch of road was not the best in town and it certainly was not the worse, however you would think that grinding the road then a chip and seal surface would at least smooth out the road some.

I travel this section everyday of the week to get to the office and the cost of repairs on this section might as well been flushed down the toilet it would have been just as beneficial. The same ruts and dips still exist as well as the roughness by the storm drains. I can understand how a road gets rough over time but come on Public Works department this road should be somewhat nice to travel on for at least a year or so. Before signing off on these types of things travel the section of road yourself and if it has not been improved then it was money that was WASTED !!!!!

If you grind down a section of highway and you do nothing to level out the subsurface or to correct the cracking then the new surface is going to resemble the old surface very shortly after the traffic pattern resumes. At this point what was the purpose in wasting the money in the first place.

There are other parts of the city such as Division Street from Glenstone east over to Barnes(I believe) which recently was worked on and that street of road is as smooth as a newborn babies behind so I know it can be done and perhaps we should excel to this standard instead of excepting shoddy work practices.

Vandals hit Phelps grove park area

An the thought process is that the north end of town is crime ridden.

From the weekend, police took at least twelve reports of property damage from residents in the south-Springfield Phelps Grove neighborhood. All the vehicles damaged had been parked on the side of the road when suspects approached and punctured one or more tires. The incidents were outlined in the following police reports:

• 08-47277 - 636 E COZY ST - evening/morning hours
• 08-47427 - 1440 S ROANOKE AV - in evening hours
• 08-47436 - 503 E PORTLAND ST - in evening hours
• 08-47489 - 1213 S KIMBROUGH AV - in morning hours
• 08-47498 - 525 E COZY ST - in evening/morning hours
• 08-47550 - 1213 S KIMBROUGH AV - in evening/morning hours
• 08-47562 - 404 E MEADOWMERE ST - in evening hours
• 08-47603 - 500 E LOREN ST - in evening hours
• 08-47605 - 636 E COZY ST - in evening hours
• 08-47614 - 516 E NORMAL ST - in evening hours
• 08-47634 - 1428 S ROANOKE AV - in evening hours
• 08-47645 - 1068 S ROANOKE AV - in evening/morning hours

Department investigators have developed information leading them to three suspects they believe to be responsible for the crimes. At this time, police are planning to present charges of Felony Property Damage against Michael Routt, Robert Griffith and Jeremiah Hull. All three suspects are 17-year-old residents of Springfield.

Although it is not always possible to secure vehicles inside, Police encourage citizens of Springfield to keep some crime prevention tips in mind in the overnight hours:

• Keep all doors locked and valuables out of sight
• Avoid parking vehicles in dimly lit areas such as alleyways
• Be alert for strange noises or dogs barking, which could indicate trouble outside
• Call police if any suspicious people are noticed at strange hours, regardless of their age

SPD Case Number: Assorted, see above

Media Contact: Major Kevin Routh, phone: 864-1754; Release authorized by: Major Routh

Are the red light cameras actually causing an increase in accidents ??

There have been 13 fatality crashes in Springfield during the first nine months of 2008, compared to four during the same period last year. Injury crashes and total crashes were down by 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively, over the same period last year. There were 5,479 total crashes from January 1 to September 30. Traffic crash statistics are tracked by the Public Works Department.

Download the September 2008 Crash Report Card (32k PDF)

OCTOBER SAFETY MESSAGE

The traffic safety theme for the month of October addresses pedestrian safety. There were 34 crashes involving a pedestrian from January through September 2008, compared to 32 pedestrian crashes in the same time period in 2007. In all but one instance, pedestrians were injured in these crashes though fortunately there have been no pedestrian fatalities. Many of these crashes have occurred at mid-block locations without a stop sign or signal. Pedestrians are urged to refrain from crossing streets at mid-block locations and are encouraged to cross streets at intersections, especially those with marked crosswalks and stop signs or traffic signals.

At traffic signals, pedestrians need to be aware that a “walk” indication does not guarantee a safe passage, and that approaching motorists may not see the pedestrian or always yield. When crossing at an intersection with a green traffic signal or a “walk” indication, pedestrians should especially watch out for vehicles making right turns across their path from the adjacent street.

Motorists need to “Drive Responsibly” and be alert to the possibility of a pedestrian entering the street. Motorists should slow at crosswalks and watch for pedestrians at all times, especially when making right or left turns, and be mindful that the pedestrian has the right-of-way, whether in a marked crosswalk or not.

Drivers should be especially alert for children walking to school when traveling on residential streets and during hours of darkness. Children are known to dart out in front of cars into the street, which is one of the many reasons Springfield is reducing the speed limit to 25 mph on neighborhood streets. We encourage all motorists to “Drive Responsibly,” so that they will not be involved in a crash and become a statistic. One of the ways residents can help make Springfield a safer community is join our “Pace Car” program. Participants place a decal in their rear car window and set a good example in their neighborhood by setting the pace of 25 mph on neighborhood streets. For more information this program call the Traffic Engineering Division office at (417) 864-1980, or sign up online at www.springfieldmo.gov/traffic. The same Web page also provides walking route maps for each Springfield elementary school, suggesting the students’ route to school based on traffic safety and pointing out possible hazards to parents.

a question to Springfield blogger land

Aug 30th was my youngest sons 18th birthday so to celebrate we decided to give some of our business to the downtown area. I had been to Hickok's Steakhouse & Brewery during the Neil Boortz/KSGF event and Jesse wanted to eat someplace different. We have been to all of the franchise type steakhouses and our favorite was closed down last year, Smokey Bones, for some unknown reason even though they were part of the Red Lobster, Olive Garden family chain.

Jesse didn't want a really fancy place or we would have driven down to Wal-Mart corporate headquater territory to eat at Ruth's Criss Steakhouse, the absolute best tasting steak I've ever had in any restaurant.

We arrived at Hickok's to find a sign on the door that it was closed until further notice, anyone know why ??

Why won't the News Leader print this ??

Editor
April 23,2008
Springfield News-Leader
Springfield, Missouri

Dear Editor
I am writing this to ask you to clear up an inaccuracy that was presented in your paper last week concerning the designer of Park Central Square in Springfield. In this letter I was credited with being the primary designer of the square.
The only one who can professionally be credited with the project design is Lawrence Halprin. While very flattering to be credited with design, this is not true. I was an architect on the staff of the Halprin office at the time. The Halprin office was hired based on his national reputation for innovative landscape architecture, to design the improvements to the existing bleak, traffic, ridden square. The Halprin office was a large office and as such Halprin could not be expected to do all of the work on every project. My role as project manager/ designer was to, with a small team, execute the job within the Halprin design vernacular. Halprin had been developing this vernacular over the preceding twenty years. I made several trips to Springfield to gather information and to present the work to city staff members and members of the downtown association. Halprin was deeply involved in the Springfield project and every other project in the office from the initial conceptual meetings where the design concepts were established and throughout the life of the project. All my work was supervised by Halprin and one or more of his partners in formal and informal meetings. Park Central Square is most definitely a Halprin project.
It is completely understandable that few drawings in Halprin's hand were found in the Halprin archives. At the time there was no organized system for retaining drawings during and after the life of the project. We also had very limited amounts of flat file drawer
storage space and thus could be ruthless in discarding drawings. Halprin's conceptual design contributions would have been in sketch form on very fragile tracing paper, which often did not survive due simply to its fragility. They also could have been discarded after the
ideas they expressed were incorporated in the more precise drawings.
I would also like to add that judging from the pictures in the
article the Square has been very well maintained and has aged extremely well. It appears to have a lot of life left in it. The Square is a very good example of the work of Lawrence Halprin and is certainly worthy of being designated a historic landmark.

Thank you
George McLaughlin
469 Mississippi St.
San Francisco CA 9417
415-647-7917
geommcl@yahoo.com

Storage issue delayed until next year

Springfield business owners upset about container proposal pleased with action.

Jaime Baranyai • News-Leader • April 3, 2008

Much to the appeasement of business owners, Springfield's proposed storage container ordinance will be put on hold for more than a year.

The City Council Community Involvement Committee on Wednesday afternoon decided to put an administrative delay on the ordinance until Sept. 11, at which time the delay will be formally extended for a year.

"That is the smartest, wisest thing that the city leaders of Springfield can do with that issue," said Tom Martz of Mozark Environmental. "Anything the city can do to maintain the businesses here is a wise future investment."

Many other business owners have sat through multiple public meetings during the past two years fighting with the city over the storage containers.

The matter eventually became so confusing and nettlesome that Mayor Pro Tem Gary Deaver suggested a "cooling off" period after a meeting with business owners last month turned contentious.

Business owners said Wednesday they're thankful the storage container issue has been officially put on the back burner.

Brenda Teeslink, who owns Mobile Storage Solutions, said she is thrilled the issue has been put on hold.

"This is the right thing for them to do at this time," she said. "It's an issue that does not deserve the attention it got to begin with. It snowballed into something that was unnecessary."

Rita Needham, executive director of the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association, said she too was happy with the administrative delay put on the storage container issue.

"That's probably the best thing that could have happened today, and I was pleased to see it get done," Needham said after Wednesday's meeting.

"It will be a cooling off period that gives everybody time to step back and rethink it."

She said by the time the council is ready to revisit the issue, hopefully the new city manager can offer a new perspective.

Jim Pretti, who owns Ozark Flag Distributors and uses storage containers to hold some of his merchandise, said he's glad the issue has been delayed but would like to see it done away with altogether.

"There's so many other things Springfield has to worry about right now besides those trailers ... let's worry about the police department and the fire department," he said.

Councilman Dan Chiles, who has opposed the ordinance from the beginning, echoed those sentiments. He said dealing with the city's budget crisis is the biggest priority right now.

Chiles said he can live with the decision to delay any action on the storage container issue.

"Life is a compromise ... I would have preferred to just do away with it, but this is OK," he said.

In the meantime, it seems there's been enough light shed on the issue to make business owners aware of the regulations surrounding storage containers, according to Needham with the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association.

"There are a lot of companies that once the storage container issue was discussed and brought to light, they became aware of the proper placements and made adjustments accordingly," she said. "Once they find out what the right thing is to do they're going to comply with that."

Deaver said he's already noticed a change.

"I have noted significant improvements in the placement and use of the containers throughout the community and believe we can delay action on this issue for a period of time," he said.

Teeslink with Mobile Storage Solutions said she's happy to hear that.

"They've realized that the businesses out there are not knowingly breaking any of the codes -- and when they were taught what to do they corrected them," she said.

Teeslink said when the storage container issue is eventually taken up again, she hopes the city will approach it with a different perspective. She said she wants them to treat it as a training and educational issue.

"Any safety training that they are willing to take the time to do, I'll be there with bells on. That's what we want. We want them to educate instead of regulate."

Homeless shelter for veterans in Springfield

I find it quite amazing that parents are up in arms about this shelter because they fear that a sexual predator might be allowed into this shelter, never mind that it would be a violation of Jessica's LAW if this happened.

Yet they will send their young children to government schools and they haven't the slightest clue if a sexual predator might be teaching little Sara or little Johnny. Do a goggle search on teachers having sex with children students and you'll get 1,760,000 hits on the subject. Not to mention the lackluster education they receive on the founding of this nation and the importance of the Constitution and this Republic.

Somehow a homeless shelter for veterans is supposed to contain mentally deranged patients that could somehow be a child molester but our government school system is FREE from this dilemma ? I DON'T THINK SO !!!!

YES Mr. Rice has a history of ignoring Springfield zoning laws, the one I recall the best happened a few years ago during an extremely cold week in '02 which Mr. Rice opened up his facility so as to allow homeless people to come in from the cold instead of freezing to death. The imperial government structure in Springfield booted the people out in single digit temperatures because the business they were housed in temporarily didn't have the proper zoning requirements for this action.

Resolution opposes homeless vets center

Incidents at other New Life facilities worry school board.

Cory de Vera
News-Leader


The Springfield school board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday calling on federal officials to prohibit the New Life Evangelistic Center from operating a homeless veterans facility near Central High School.

The Rev. Larry Rice was able to obtain the facility, the former Social Security building at 806 N. Jefferson Ave., because a federal law in the McKinney Vento Act calls for surplus federal property to go to programs that help the homeless.

The resolution says New Life has "a history of noncompliance with Springfield building and fire codes, as well as a documented history of violent crime at several of its locations throughout the state of Missouri."

Having the facility so near the high school, says the resolution, "poses a direct threat to the safety and well being of the students at Central High School."

Several people from the Central High Site Council stood when Springfield board president asked for those in support of the resolution to stand. One person spoke out against the resolution.

The resolution which will be sent to Missouri's senators, congressman Roy Blunt, local state representatives and the governor, among others.

Board President Kris Callen said the resolution is not anti-veteran or anti-homeless. Instead, she said, it speaks to someone who may be very well-intended who runs facilities that have suffered negative consequences — including a recent murder — perhaps because of lack of oversight.

"This is prudent," said Callen. "We are trying to be as proactive as we can."

City announces hiring freeze, budget cuts

In an interview with Jason Wert of lifeofjason.com our Mayor Pro Tem Gary Deaver decreed that the city has a balanced budget and is required to have one. In understanding how the budgeting process works the city based on the best criteria possible proposes a budget based upon ASSUMPTIONS of revenue that MIGHT be generated. This my dear friends isn't a balanced budget unless the revenue projected is ACTUALLY received

© 2008, Springfield News-Leader

Springfield city government has been placed under an immediate hiring freeze, and city departments are being asked to cut their budgets by 7 percent because of an unexpected drop in sales tax revenue.

Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea said today that city department heads must have their proposed budget cuts in by next Friday. She confirmed a hiring freeze was in place and would remain until the budget shortfall was fixed.

“The hiring freeze is putting some departments in a bind,” Honea said. “The fire department had five firefighters they were ready to make offers to, but we’ve asked them not to make those offers until this is resolved.”

The city has four other open positions affected by the hiring freeze.

Honea said she and City Manager Bob Cumley will review the proposed cuts and deliver a report to the City Council in March.

It will be up to the council to decide how to proceed, but she said the city needs to cut at least $4 million, she said.

While gearing up for the 2009 budget, the city had projected sales tax revenue would increase 3 percent, but it actually decreased 1 percent.

Honea said the city also was facing a $3.5 million shortfall in its contribution to the police and fire pension fund. The only way to solve the combined shortfall is to reduce the city’s general fund budget by 7 percent, she said.

In 2008, the $41 million general fund made up slightly more than half of the city’s $70 million total budget. Fees and revenue from other sources make up the rest.

Honea said it’s too soon to know exactly how department heads will meet the 7 percent budget cut goal. But cutting employees is likely to occur.

“Seventy three percent of the general fund supports personnel,” she said. “You can’t raise $4 million without cutting personnel. We hope to do it through attrition. We don’t plan on any layoffs.”

Springfield City Center

I was going to write a blog on the historic aspects of our town square, however most of my work has already been published by Dan Chiles and the Springfield News Leader. I will only add that during this period of transition of the square the city is going to spend a fortune on the lawsuits which will be filed to keep this historic square intact as much as possible

VOICE OF THE DAY »

Meet with square's original architect to get consensus


The Springfield city square is an early work by Lawrence Halprin, America's most famous landscape architect. Halprin designed the visitor's attractions at Yosemite National Park, Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, Sea Ranch in California and the new FDR Presidential Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The Springfield city square has the most distinguished pedigree of any building or project in our town. It came from a lengthy design process that included (I'm told) nine design revisions which are archived at the University of Pennsylvania.

The short barricades that surround much of the square and account for many complaints by our citizens were apparently added later along with the street that circles the plaza. For decades, Springfield's square has enjoyed no major capital improvements or upgrades. Lighting, programming and access need attention.

People in Springfield want a square that is bright, well lit, accessible and programmed with cool events. We can spend our $800,000 (plus change) federal dollars for a new square or we can upgrade the Halprin design.

In the past year of public meetings, none of our design team bothered to call Halprin and ask his opinion, but I did. He is 91 years old, alert and interested in our square, just as he was 38 years ago. He is extremely kind and supportive. He said our square needed enhancements and he is willing to spend time with a Springfield delegation to "reach a consensus." He wants to meet with four people.

The city has applied for federal money to demolish our square, but that money comes with strings. In brief, permitting cannot legally begin until a Section 106 review has been completed, which results in a determination of "no historic resources," "no adverse effect" upon historic resources or "adverse effect" upon historic resources.

I predict Springfield is in for a long and bitter fight if we try to spend federal tax dollars to demolish Halprin's work.

If we are smart enough to accept Mr. Halprin's offer, we can win four ways: preserve the Halprin landmark, honor the citizen request for improvements, stretch our tax dollars and do everything faster.

My City Council job pays nothing and drags me away from work and family, but I am willing to put a thousand bucks toward Halprin's fee of $10,000. We are talking about a meeting the first week of March at his office. I'm looking for three other volunteers.

---

Dan Chiles is a member of the Springfield City Council.

Council Passes Resolution on New Square Designs

Mr. Dan Chiles on this issue you have my utmost respect as you stood by your principles and you stood up for the people of Springfield.
I'm a little suspect of the input of 750 people since I attended the meetings on the "jordan valley gateway" project of which only 23 people attended. I was only counting the people not associated with the city, a city department, or the organization hired for the project.

12FEB2008

Council Passes Resolution on New Square Designs

In a special session held today, City Council passed a resolution to move ahead with the first phase of the proposed redesign of Park Central Square. (Download a PDF explaining the design. 6.5 mb) The new design was created by local architectural firm Butler, Rosenbury & Partners after a public input process.

Architect Tim Rosenbury was on hand to answer Council members’ questions about the design. He said during the input phase, more than 750 members of the public identified six key qualities a new Park Central Square should have. They said it should recognize downtown as an emerging entertainment district, it should be able to be enjoyed all types of people, it should have easy access for all, it should be an active and lively space, it should recognize downtown as an emerging residential district, and it should recognize Springfield’s history in some way.

Rosenbury also explained the four phases of the project. The first phase is the inner portion — the square itself. This would be paid for by a federal grant of that has already been secured. The second phase is the outer “corners” of the space, which is essentially the sidewalk area that extends to the buildings on the Square. The third phase is the “spokes” of roadway extending from the Square for one block east and west and a half block north and south. The fourth possible phase includes a pavilion in the center of the Square. The Urban Districts Alliance is taking the lead to look for possible private funding sources for the outer corners and the pavilion/canopy, while the “spokes” are already identified for eventual funding through the City’s ongoing streetscape improvements.

Councilman Dan Chiles raised concerns about changing a space that was designed by Lawrence Halprin, a famed landscape architect. He suggested waiting to approve a design until Halprin could be consulted. Other Council members expressed a desire to move ahead, as the City’s agreement with Heer’s Tower developer Kevin McGowan states that the City must begin construction on a new Park Central Square by Aug. 1. McGowan sent a letter via e-mail (72k PDF) to Council today urging them to pass the resolution. Architect and downtown property owner Allen Casey also send a letter to City manager Bob Cumley (71k PDF) in support of the design. Downtown developer Scott Tillman (College Station) and Urban Districts Alliance board president Nancy Dornan spoke to express support for the new design.

The resolution was approved 7-1, with Councilman Chiles voting against. Mayor Tom Carlson was not present. You can watch the meeting in its entirety on our Web site via TV23.

posted by Mike Brothers, Public Information

Another RED light camera preparing to go online

January 18, 2008

News Release

For Immediate Release

Camera at Sunshine and National Activates Jan. 22

The City of Springfield will activate a photo red light camera on westbound Sunshine Street at National Avenue for a warning period only beginning Jan. 22, 2008.

The warning period will continue for least 30 days from Jan. 22, 2008. During that time, citations clearly marked as “warning notice only” will be sent to the individual or company as the owner of record of the vehicle that ran the red light. The warning notices will include photos of the vehicle in violation, but will not include access to the video documentation of the violation until the enforcement period begins.

This is the fourth activated red-light camera. The other locations are on southbound National at Battlefield Road; southbound Campbell Avenue at Battlefield and eastbound Battlefield at Campbell.

A red-light violation is defined as crossing the wide white line (known as the stop bar) at the intersection after the signal has turned red. Motorists who cross the stop bar on yellow or are in the intersection when the light turns red are not in violation of the red-light ordinance.

After the 30-day warning period expires, the fine for running a red light is $100. The photo-enforced violations will be a civil penalty and will not result in points on a driver’s record. Each photo-enforced intersection approach will be clearly marked with signs, while other signs at various locations will state that Springfield uses photo red-light enforcement.

For more questions and answers involving the red light photo enforcement, visit the CityTalk e-letter on the City Web site at: springfieldmo.gov or call the City’s Citizen Service Request Office at 864-1012.

For media information, contact: Earl Newman, Assistant Public Works Director/Traffic Engineering, 864-1980; or Louise Whall, Director of Public Information, 864-1010.

Department of Public Works

840 Boonville Ave., P.O. Box 8368, Springfield, MO 65801-8368
Phone: (417) 864-1900 • city@springfieldmo.gov

hold on to your wallet again

Jordan Valley Quarry Public Input Events were held this week and Springfieldians turned out to spend earmarked tax money. Yes folks I said earmarked tax money that was never discussed on any national radio show or local for that matter. It seems House Whip Roy Blunt figured out a way to abscond of 2.7 million dollars of the taxpayers money and brought it home to build "The Gateway of Jordan Valley Park" , the newest in a list of boondoggle projects designed to keep the city taxpayers paying for our park system.

This lime mine changed hands many times through the years eventually caught on fire and burned for quite some time, eventually the Springfield Greene County Park Board acquired the land to be used for Jordan Valley Park.

Sorry got off track for a little bit. I went to last nights meeting which approximately 30 people were there of which 10 of them were city employees or worked for the consultant form Portland, OR. So what that all means is the city will exclaim that with valuable input from the citizens of Springfield this monument of Jordan Valley Park will be erected. 20 people determined how 2.7 million dollars was going to be spent and ONLY ONE of those individuals suggested to send the money back from whence it came. Yes I was the minuscule minority with common sense.

How can we ever complain about spending if we continue to join in when it is offered?

Missouri Liberty Coalition

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/NEWS01/801060392/1001/RSS01

Coalition wants accountability from city

Many attendees at group's first meeting say Springfield needs new leadership.

Mike Penprase
News-Leader


In the wake of recent audits of city government and City Utilities, residents who attended Saturday's first meeting of the Missouri Liberty Coalition said it was time to hold officials' feet to the fires of frustration.

About three dozen attended the meeting Saturday afternoon at the Library Station in north Springfield.

It was called by Tom Martz, a past Libertarian legislative candidate and advocate of the city audit. Participants ranged from retirees to young men wearing Ron Paul T-shirts.

Longtime Springfield resident Ray Clouse said he believes it's time to press for accountability from Springfield officials.

And he's ready to do something about it.

"I don't mind getting dirty," Clouse told the crowd at the library.

"If I get slapped with a mudball, I'll wipe it off."

The Springfield native and resident since 1943, except for four years in the military, pronounced the city's government is at the lowest point he's seen.

"It's pitiful," Clouse said.

Many at the meeting expressed dissatisfaction with City Council members and talked about how to get rid of them, except for one.

Get people with integrity on the council, and don't wait for an election to bring them on, Mike Paris said.

It might be time to start a recall effort, he said.

"Should the focus of this thing be you fight individual battles, or remove them all?" he asked.

Councilman Doug Burlison is the only council member deserving support, Martz said before Burlison appeared at the meeting.

Taking a break outside the session, Burlison said it's obvious a lot of Springfield residents are frustrated with how the city is run.

Burlison said he didn't know what to expect from the meeting Martz and others set up.

"I thought I was walking into the wrong room, to be honest with you," he said. "I think it's really an indication there are a lot of people out there in a silent majority."

Radio personality Vincent David Jericho congratulated people who showed up for the meeting.

Martz said efforts to open up city government by getting more people on boards, committees and other bodies might affect his own political aspirations.

"I don't think I'll be on any of those, ever," he said.

But he is considering a run for City Council, he said during the meeting.

After the meeting, he said he began considering that move for months before he and others formed the nonpartisan coalition.

Some people who came to the meeting to see what would happen said the coalition could be effective if people get involved.

While Greg Sokerka said before the meeting he'd reserve judgment on getting involved, by the end of the 2 1/2-hour session he said it appears the group can get something done.

"It's gone real well for the first get-together," he said. "Informative."

bureaucratic nightmare

you came to town and purchased a castle built in 1915. This castle was built, owned, and operated by once what was thought of to be a secret society of individuals. The strangeness doesn't end here however because the oddities continue once I was allowed to tour this place and talk to the new owners.
The Knights of Pythias built these castles to care for the widows and orphaned children of their membership and upon touring the local castle the building "codes" of which they applied are far superior to our government forced "building codes and standards". I wonder how this could be since the federal government nor any state government forced building regulations when this structure was built.
For those of us that tend to believe that government regulations are needed for people to continue to be safe I recommend they tour a Pythian Castle some where near where you live.

Back to my story SORRY for the government rant.

Since the Knights of Pythais left the building it has been in federal government hands, US military control, local government hands, and eventually sold off as excess. It was auctioned off for about 5G's or so quite possible even less, but at 40,000 square feet it isn't a cheap building to maintain. The building was listed on the open market by a Realtor and sold to a couple of ladies from CA back a few years ago.
These ladies poured their hearts and soul into this place and restored it as much as possible back to the time frame it was built. Since the outside of the structure is Granite Block along with the supporting walls there was no need to worry about a cracking foundation or structure. The castle received a new coat of paint on the inside walls, the hardwood floors were refurbished, the ballroom and theater brought back to there grandeur. At some point in time after all this was finished the building was opened for tours, weddings, theater, and ballroom dancing. It appears the main point of contention in this time line is did the owner have a "business license" to operate this facility in any manner, In other words did she get permission from the omnipresent imperial government to earn money from her own private property.
The city steps in and shuts her down, and in the never ending story her building has been proclaimed to be a dangerous structure uninhabitable. In the past this building was used as a hospital during WW II because of how structurally sound this building is, not because it is unsafe. From my understanding of the issue from one side of the coin it appears the city keeps extending the playing field every time it appears that the owner is going to score a touchdown, making it much harder on the players to remain in the game.

city audit aftermath

Now that the audit process is finished where do we go from here. By reading the opinion pieces and the online edition it appears the battle lines are drawn. Some people would much rather have remained in the dark to city finances, while others want to get the broom out and start a new.
I believe change is needed to the way this city is run and some department heads need to either change the status quo of there departments or find a new place of employment. A supervisory role means that decisions need to be made and not all of them are going to be pleasant. Budgets are something that should be taken quite seriously, just as every homeowner must watch their expenses so must the city leaders watch the expenditures of the city. We have come upon an age where spend now fend off the bill collectors later seems to be the normal modus operandi for many businesses, government institutions, and homeowners. The nation is nine trillion in debt, many states remain with red ink bleeding the state coffers, the average city spends three times the amount of there revenue, and the average homeowner carries about 20G's in credit card debt. If government institutions were rated in the same manner for a credit score as the individual then credit counselling services would be booked with appointments for years to come.
The fiscal health of this city is beholden to the taxpayer not only in our elected officials, but to every individual that resides within the city limits. If you feel something is amiss in government then go to the source and make your voice heard, stop complaining to the handful of people that read the editorial section. You can change government for the better, but one must get off the couch and make the attempt before seeing results.
It took approximately five thousand six hundred people to shine the light on city finances, in a city that has a population base of over one hundred fifty two thousand. A minority can institute change if they are willing to make the sacrifice.

shameless self promotion

Steven Reed is well known in this area for trying to get a government boondoggle project here to the Springfield area. The project is called Amtrak. This wasteful government program spends millions of taxpayer dollars while bringing benefits to the minority and not the majority.
Another type project of which seems to be on the forefront is a technology park which he seems to want the taxpayers to fund to the tune of millions of dollars. This city doesn't have millions of dollars as the city audit pointed out.

Mr. Reed is also the self promoter that he was instrumental in getting the city audited and the Springfield News Leader finally listened to him long enough to put a blurb in the paper proclaiming his greatness for this thought. I'm not very familiar with his effort since I didn't live in Springfield at that time, but since 2006-2007 was the very first time this city got audited by the state I would have to assume his attempt failed.
I'm quite sure research could point to countless others in the past that may have made a passing statement on this same subject however we aren't promoting them as the originators.

It appears that Steven Reed wants to become the Paul Revere for this effort while the members of the local libertarian party, and the individual members of the police and fire departments are regulated to the status of Samuel Prescott and William Dawes

you lived in a city that have NO regard for taxpayer funds

Silly me I do live in one of those cities.

The results are in and most of our suspicions have been proven out. City leaders nor the upper echelon of city management have any clue of how to run a fiscally responsible city. The sytem of checks and balances has been thrown out of the window along with the balance sheets to determine how money is spent.

Mr. Burlison the city owes you a debt of gratitude for having the bravado to get this started and to see it through. Much thanks to those that gathered signatures(libertarian party members, individual members of the police and fire fighters) which required you to be away from family doing something that you felt was important. To those that attached your signatures to the petition now is the time for you to become active instead of proactive and help us bring about change to the city.

City council needs to ask debt questions

At the city council meeting the members took 30 minutes to pat themselves on the back for all the ways they are spending money in the downtown area. The mayor was aghast that the SNL actually questioned the decisions of the council to spend this money on various projects which haven't been finalized or even awarded.

I wonder if an impact study has been done to determine the fiscal impact of all the $$$ spent in the downtown area.
You want to revitalize the downtown area put a Super Wal-Mart down there and people will flock to it. The type of people that will visit the various shops in the newly renovated downtown area prodominately live in the San Francisco area or in Marin County CA. How are we going to get those people here Mayor Tom. The region of downtown has been populated by bars and the like which seem to entertain the MSU students and the crime rate of the area doesn't seem to reflect the major sources of entertainment in that area.

I see NO reason why PRIVATE monies can't be invested in the area. Once something is set in stone for the advancement of private money to be invested in this area then public monies could follow upon reasonable assurance that the taxpayers aren't going to be left holding an empty bank statement.

City council needs to ask debt questions

Springfield nears worrisome level.

Before they vote to put the city in debt by another $20 million tonight, city council members have to ask themselves two questions:

How much debt is the city actually in?

How much can the city handle?

What's worrisome is that council members didn't appear to ask those questions a couple of weeks ago before they approved the first reading of bills that would authorize the city to sell up to $2.7 million in bonds for a crime lab and up to $6 million for a Heer's parking garage and another $12 million for a parking garage at College Station.

We're pretty sure the council didn't ask the question because when we asked it of City Manager Bob Cumley, he didn't know the answer. But he found out, and the answer should give city taxpayers pause.

If the proposals before the council are approved tonight, the city will have just more than $61 million in debt related to economic development projects downtown. The city has other debts, such as about $90 million for the new airport terminal, and other bonds that are backed by taxes for road projects, but the downtown economic development debt is significant because it's a bit of a gamble.

If the projects work — and don't misunderstand us, we believe they will — then the debt can be paid off without much harm to general revenue. And if the projects fail? That's a possibility Cumley and others don't want to think about.

But they are thinking about the debt. And their conclusion, after tonight at least, is clear. No more debt.

"At some point, you start to get concerned," Cumley says.

We believe that point ought to be now.

We have been, and continue to be, fans of downtown's resurgence and the city's role in helping to make it happen. The crown jewels, so to speak, are the College Station project that is under construction and the Heer's building redevelopment that is getting closer by the day. We believe the very thought of those projects on the horizon is contributing to the work of other developers in and around downtown as more old buildings get refurbished and turned into loft apartments and retail outlets. The crime lab project is important in and of itself in that it will improve the entire state's ability to move justice forward in cases right now that are delayed because of the lack of a lab; but it's also valuable as it will bring employees downtown and offer even more incentive for redevelopment of older empty downtown buildings.

But fans of these projects or not, it's important to consider the short and long term repercussions of this debt. In the short term, some of the previous bonded indebtedness is costing the city out of general revenue coffers. According to figures provided by the city, it's costing about $500,000 a year to pay off bonds that build the Jordan Valley Ice Park and another $500,000 a year to pay off bonds for the Jordan Valley Parking Garage. Meanwhile, though not downtown, the city will spend more than a million dollars out of general revenue this year to pay off bonds for the Partnership Industrial Center near the airport.

That's $2 million a year that's being spent out of general revenue on a gamble that once completed, economic development projects will produce enough revenue to help pay off their own debt. One can argue that a strong downtown core is worth more economic development potential to the city even if it costs some general revenue to make it happen. But that's a tougher and tougher argument to make as a tight city budget leads to hiring freezes and questions about raises.

At some point, there has to be a payoff to this gamble.

So where is it? That's what council members need to ask themselves before they vote.