Police, fire departments pitch funding needs as citizen commissions reviews tax options

As a citizen task force considers options for replacing Springfield's existing 3/4-cent pension sales tax, city departments dedicated to public safety shared their current budgetary needs and hopes for future funding. One item from the wish list that stood out Tuesday was a driving track by the airport.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams said of his department's main long-term needs is a place for officers to receive driving training and instruction. While the department previously used airport grounds for this type of training, the space has been unavailable due to airport expansion. Now, an 80-acre lot north of the Springfield-Branson National Airport could offer room for a new track, once a lease granted to a farmer expires.

Neither police nor the Springfield Fire Department have a place for high-speed vehicle training currently. Williams said he has received preliminary approval to consider the idea, with the airport confirming a driving track would be allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Williams said the track would benefit other city departments that require driving training, including fire and public works. Beyond this, it could also be offered as a regional facility.

"This isn't just a police wish-list item anymore, this is a city-owned, city-operated driving track and driver safety for all city employees," he said.

While he could not offer a detailed estimate of the track's cost, Williams said construction would be around $5 to $6 million. This does not include land acquisition, which would be subject to negotiations with the airport.

State of the police department

The expiring 3/4-cent sales tax was first approved by voters in 2009 as a means of filling the shortfall in the city's Police and Fire Pension Fund. In his presentation to the Citizens' Commission on Community Investment Tuesday morning, Williams noted that the pension fund crisis had affected the police department in other ways. In 2008, the department's discretionary funding was cut back significantly in response to the deficit the pension fund faced. With the recession around the same time, even less money was flowing toward the fund and has remained the same since then, right under $200,000 annually. In 2007, the discretionary funds for the police were more than double that at $488,865.

"With the pension being where it is, my first thought here is we were required to cut money from our budget to help fund the pension plan. I think we're on better footing now and restoring that would be helpful," Williams said.

Each year, Williams said he receives roughly $800,000 in requests. Discretionary funding can be used on needs as they come up that have not been budgeted ahead of time.

The Springfield Police Department has also struggled with recruitment and retention of officers. Currently, the department has 56 vacant sworn positions. Recently, the chief revealed new recruitment and retention strategies that the department hopes to roll out as a way to attract new hires and fill vacant positions. The department also is 12 people short for support staff positions, 10 of which are records employees. Because of this deficit, Williams said the southside station has been open to the public only twice in the past 14 years.

"Whenever there is an increase in salary benefits for police officers, it impacts every other city employee," Williams said, noting that the police department is the largest of city departments. "If you took that funding stream out of the general fund and put it somewhere else ... that actually frees up money that will positively impact the other 20 departments in the city and those employees."

In order to remain competitive, Williams said more investment in personnel is necessary. While Springfield's police department is among the highest paid in the region, the department does not compete with local smaller law enforcement for hires, he said, but is up against departments in larger cities where salaries surpass what Springfield offers. Out of the department's current $34 million general fund budget, 89% funds personnel.

State of the fire department

In his presentation to the commission, Fire Chief David Pennington noted the fire department has not struggled significantly with hiring. However, Pennington said the city could use more personnel if there were enough resources to support them, especially with the growth the city is undergoing. While Springfield's average staffing currently is 1.34 firefighters per 1,000 residents, the municipal average range according to National Fire Protection Association standards is roughly 1.54-1.81 per 1,000.

Among the main needs for fire safety in Springfield are roughly five more fire stations, he said, including a northeast station that could be shared with police. Only one of these, Station 14 on the west side, has already been promised funding through an existing bonding package. With the way the city has expanded, these stations are necessary to meet the benchmark for deployment times. Further annexation would require additional resources, both in terms of personnel and equipment. Each station requires 12 staff at a cost of roughly $1.3 million, Pennington said.

Currently, construction of fire stations and lifecycle replacement of police and fire vehicles as well as updates to facilities are funded through a level property tax most recently approved by voters in 2017. Public buildings like fire stations are owned and maintained by Springfield Public Works Department. Their role in public safety is more preventative in addressing infrastructure concerns to reduce the need for emergency response.

More: Consultant's report says Springfield must spend millions more to maintain infrastructure

Public Works in need of more funds

The city's Public Works department handles everything from stormwater engineering to traffic management and beautification in the city. Director of Public Works Dan Smith noted that industry trends have resulted in the department having to do more with less. While rising inflation has driven up construction costs almost two-fold since 2020, the city's aging infrastructure has also required more work at a higher cost in addition to the department losing some stormwater funding sources.

Smith outlined four priority categories the department has the biggest challenge keeping up with annually: pavement, sidewalk, stormwater and facilities. The deficit in meeting the need for all of these combined is equal to the total amount collected from sales taxes dedicated to maintenance and repair — $24 million annually. This aligns with recent findings from consultants hired by the city to explore land use code changes to align with the Forward SGF Comprehensive Plan.

More: 7 things to know as Springfield looks at replacing 3/4-cent pension sales tax

The primary sources for maintenance and repairs come from the 1/8-cent Transportation Sales Tax and 1/4-cent Capital Improvements Sales Tax. Smith said currently there is not a dedicated revenue source that funds larger maintenance projects beyond daily upkeep.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board is expected to present their funding needs at the next CCCI meeting on Tuesday, May 14 at 9:30 a.m. Once the commission has received all the necessary information, they will discuss the possible future of a revamped 3/4-cent sales tax ahead of finalizing their recommendations to Springfield City Council by June 30.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield public safety departments share funding needs, wish lists