Some Springfield residents torn on income tax increase

Springfield leaders say residents deserve another chance to vote to increase the local income tax after hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts to city services, but some residents believe it’s unfair for residents to pay more.

Voters narrowly rejected the income tax increase in November by about 200 votes. City commissioners voted this week unanimously to put the tax increase back on the May 2 primary ballot.

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The income tax rate in Springfield would increase from 2 percent to 2.4 percent, if voters approved it.

If approved, the tax would generate an additional $6.7 million annually through 2022. For a worker making $30,000 a year, the tax would cost an additional $10 per month.

“When you start seeing the results of not passing it, people get more interested,” Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland said.

Last month a divided commission approved a budget for this year, which included $800,000 in cuts to the municipal court, parks, and police and firefighter overtime. The police substation on West Johnny Lytle Avenue that housed the division’s community relations program and Fire Station No. 5 were closed as of Jan. 1.

“It’s cuts you really don’t want to make,” Copeland said. “Given the emphasis across the country of police, community relations, that’s something we really don’t want to do long-term.”

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The cuts could impact emergency service response times in the city — a concern for some residents.

“We need police on the streets, we need firefighters and paramedics,” Ethel Saylor said.

She supported the increase in November, she said, and plans to do the same in May.

“It might come down between life and death,” she said.

Springfield resident Gary Williams said he understands why people wouldn’t want their taxes raised, he said, but more money is required to maintain the services that make the community a good place to live.

“We can’t run if we don’t have the money coming in,” he said. “If you’re not voting things through when they need then we’re not going to have the best.”

But other voters disagree, like Bradley Carey.

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“They need to cut spending,” he said. “There’s areas where they can cut spending.”

The city should have budgeted better over the last several years, he said, to avoid the situation it’s in now.

“They want the taxpayers to have an open check book and keep coming back to us,” Carey said.

A local committee, the Citizens for Responsible Springfield City Government, formed to oppose the tax increase last year, erecting yard signs throughout the city. The committee plans to oppose the tax increase again in May, Treasurer Dan Harkins said.

“A tax increase would just make us very uncompetitive in the region,” Harkins said “We would see further erosion of our economic base.”

Copeland isn’t sure whether or not the levy will pass in May, but he’s hopeful.

“You should never be confident that a tax levy is going to pass,” he said.

If it does, he said, the closed fire and police station would re-open.

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