Republic City Council approves property tax levy

City hall furniture deal offers major savings, cost down to $305,000, from $450k
 
Financial housekeeping preoccupied much of the Aug. 26 meeting of the Republic City Council.
Council members adopted the annual property tax levy for the 2025 taxing cycle. Bob Ford, chief financial officer, explained the Hancock Amendment allowed a 2.9 percent increase in the city’s levy after real estate assessments rose by 21 percent, from $351 million to $425 million. Republic has no personal property tax.
The city’s three taxes were projected to bring in $2,340,391. This broke down to almost $1.7 million from the general operating tax of $.3985 per $100 of assessed property, approximately $450,000 for parks and recreation at $.1074, and approximately $260,000 for street lighting at $.0613.
Budget revisions
Ford also walked council members through a budget amendment for the current fiscal year to adjust the spending plan according to actual spending and income. Ford noted increases in water revenue due to increased rates had boosted income by $562,500. Similarly, the rate increase of sewer service boosted the wastewater fund by $503,100 over initial projections. Because the city was not spending as quickly as planned on some of its projects, interest income was up $210,000 than expected. Due to job vacancies, the city had $443,200 in the bank that had not been spent on personnel as expected.
On the other side of the coin, Ford reported the parks and recreation department received $227,800 less than expected due to cooler, wet weather keeping the RUSH water park closed several weeks during the summer. North Point Church had also withdrawn from renting park facilities.
With the departure of Megan McCullough as city attorney, the city spent $222,500 in legal expenses on alternatives. A variety of other expenses raised operating costs by $138,500 beyond projections.
The city ended its year with a $70 million debt as it moved forward with construction of the new wastewater treatment plant. The new budget included more capital improvements spending on the new administration building, plus moving ahead on the JR Martin Park, after the council approved spending an additional $1 million.
Action on the budget amendment will likely come at the council’s next meeting on Sept. 9, the only planned session in September.
Advancing new city hall project
In the meantime, council members approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of furniture for the new city hall building, under construction west of the BUILDS building, where the city council is presently meeting, north of the high school.
Staff provided the following update on that project: “The construction of the new Administration Building is moving along rapidly and Crossland expects completion in late November 2025. Given that timeline, the city needs to order the furniture no later than September 1, 2025, to ensure an appropriate amount of time for delivery and setup. Therefore, we are requesting Council’s approval for the Chief Financial Officer to negotiate final purchase contract (s) with multiple furniture suppliers in an amount not to exceed $350,000.”
Ford noted the original budget for furnishings had been $450,000. The savings arose from collaborating with the design services team from BKD, which is overseeing the project. The team specked out what each office needed and sought bids for furniture packages, broken down by type. That enabled the city to review offerings from four different bidders and pick the best prices from each. Ford expected the final cost to run no higher than $305,000, including art for display.
Furniture from the former city offices downtown, he continued, was “mismatched” and many were “falling apart.” When offices moved, all the old furniture was sold. New furniture will match what is in the BUILDS building.
The council approved a resolution covering the furniture purchase.
Another resolution passed authorizing redesign of the city’s website. Chris Parks, parks and recreation director, presented the findings of an effort to find a firm that would give the city a “Modern, innovative, and user-friendly” website. “While the old version served us well, we felt it was time to look for a more innovative solution for the website,” Parks said.
The city received 14 proposals, interviewed two, and, based on scored responses, recommended Revize, based in Troy, Mich. The redesign, approved by the council, will cost $61,500 and come with a services contract or $12,700 annually.
Ordinance consideration by council
Following up on the council’s last meeting, council members approved expanding hours for local marijuana and medical facilities. This issue came up at the council’s Aug. 5 meeting on an appeal by Alex Paulson from Easy Mountain Dispensary, the only licensed dispensary in the city.
Karen Haynes, community development director, explained that city leaders originally thought limiting dispensary hours to 8 p.m. was a good idea. State law allows remaining open until 10 p.m., and the change, at Paulson’s request, would only match state statutes. Paulson claimed that customers leaving a later shift from businesses like Amazon were driving into Springfield to buy products, thus losing sales tax revenue for Republic.
The change received unanimous final approval.
An ordinance was introduced seeking a special use permit for expanding a storage building complex at 715 N. Denver Avenue. Repmo 1st Store presently has a 19,000 square foot self-storage facility comprising three buildings in that location. The company would like to expand an additional two acres to the north with a 9,000 square foot structure. The property is located west of N. Oakland Avenue, north of E. Hines Street, two blocks east of Hwy. 60. It has general commercial property to the west, and is otherwise surrounded on three sides by residential property.
Adding a new building to an existing storage building requires a special use permit. Patrick Ruiz, senior planner for the city, said no one spoke in opposition to the plan when it was presented before the Planning and Zoning Commission. A second reading is expected on Sept. 9.
Staff Reports
Lisa Addington, the interim city administrator, said the team searching for a new city administrator hoped to bring a recommendation before the council in September.
She noted she and other staff were holding meetings with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in search of alternative sources of funding for the city’s wastewater treatment plant, following Gov. Mike Kehoe’s veto of $25 million supporting the project.
Republic’s annual Mud Run on Aug. 23 at Brookline Park attracted 900 participants, Addington said. She commended staff for the way the event came together.
Mayor Eric Franklin reported city crews had finished approximately 26,000 linear feet of paving and overlays during the summer. He expressed appreciation to residents for managing during the inconvenience of the work.
The Republic Racer Car Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. downtown on Sept. 13.
Franklin reminded the public that the city’s yard waste facility at 915 N. West Avenue is open on the first Saturday of the month, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the preceding Friday from 12:30 to 4 p.m.
The second council meeting in September and the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting were cancelled. Scheduled city council meetings will be on Oct. 7 and a work session on Oct. 14.