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Springfield council reviews revised hotel-motel tax language after outreach; staff to refine ballot text
Summary
After outreach to hoteliers, neighborhood groups and downtown businesses and a 1,233-response survey, councilmembers discussed adding a 35-year sunset and clearer operation-and-maintenance language to a proposed hotel-motel tax for a regional convention and event center; staff were asked to refine ballot language and the council voted to go into a closed session on related legal and real-estate matters.
City Manager David told the City Council that staff had conducted multiple listening sessions and received 1,233 survey responses about a proposed increase in the hotel-motel license tax to fund a regional convention and event center. "45 to 55 are open to a revised proposal if details improve," he said, while 27 to 30 percent remain "firmly opposed" and 15 to 25 percent are "skeptical or indifferent." David said residents repeatedly asked for more specificity on location, parking and transit, and expressed concern that other city funds not be tapped for the project.
Council members pressed staff on practical details the public raised. Council member Jensen praised the outreach and said the feedback matched lessons from a recent leadership visit to Cincinnati: "for any significant public works…
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