Amidst a challenging budget year, Springfield City Council is considering whether to ask voters to approve a higher fire levy.
Springfield is facing a structural budget gap that is likely to grow if officials don’t find a way to shrink the city’s footprint, or bring in new revenue.
One option, recommended by a taskforce that included the mayor and community leaders, is increasing public safety levies to cover the true cost of those services.
On Tuesday, the city council discussed a proposal to increase the city’s fire levy from $0.38 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to $0.53 cents. That would raise the amount the city generates from that tax from approximately $2 million a year to around $3.2 million a year.
A few city council members, including Alan Stout, said they were open to considering the increase.
“Under normal circumstances, I’d probably push only to keep it at the 38 cent rate,” he said. “But, because of the structural imbalance, because of the work of the taskforce, I am comfortable with pushing the 53 cents.”
On June 16, the council will decide which rate to send to voters in November.
Councilors also heard a consultant report on a survey of likely Springfield voters regarding the fire levy. The group found a solid sample of residents think their local government is doing a good job and would likely support the existing levy, or even an increase, if it maintained current government services.
If voters do increase the rate, Springfield won’t be able to collect it in time to help with this year’s budget issues - but it might help the city avoid future cuts.
