D.1 Personnel Policies
The City supports Missouri's current meet-and-confer law and opposes any change to it. The Hancock Amendment limits the authority of local governmental agencies to raise taxes without a majority vote of the electorate, and limits the power of the State to mandate new activities or expand existing activities without a state appropriation to pay for the activity. The State of Missouri should not mandate new activities or expand existing activities for local government without appropriating funds to pay for such activities. The power to set wages and other terms and conditions of employment for government employees must rest with elected representatives and should not be delegated to third party arbitrators or the courts. The City strongly opposes legislation that would interfere with municipal authority to determine personnel, merit system rules and regulations, pay or terms and conditions of employment, including benefits and pension issues. The City also strongly opposes any legislation that would impair the City Council’s ability to have a final say about any and all personnel issues within a Municipality. Employees of the City should not be permitted to make campaign contributions to election committees for City office. Such contributions can create the appearance that the office holder is beholden to the interests of its employees. City employees should not be able to actively participate in local elections for their employers by making campaign contributions to elected city officials.
D.2 Municipal Acquisition of Land - Use of Eminent Domain
Eminent domain is indispensable and is most often used as a last resort for revitalizing local economies, creating much-needed jobs and generating revenue that enables cities to provide essential services. Eminent domain is a powerful tool – its prudent use, when exercised in the sunshine of public scrutiny, helps achieve a great public good that benefits the entire community. Last year the General Assembly passed eminent domain reform with House Bill 1644, which imposes much greater financial and procedural burdens on municipalities when properly exercising their power of eminent domain. The City of Springfield recognizes that eminent domain reform could drastically undercut municipalities’ ability to perform basic services, and for showing restraint in that respect the General Assembly is to be commended. However, the City of Springfield is hopeful that our legislators will be willing to readdress this issue after they have had a chance to reexamine some of the more costly provisions. Many provisions of the new law are overly burdensome and serve no purpose other than imposing additional hurdles and thus expenses to the municipality and the taxpayer.
D.3 Zoning
Zoning is a matter which is best dealt with at the local level without interference from the State. The State of Missouri and the federal government should refrain from mandating how local governmental entities implement zoning laws. The City Council hereby urges the General Assembly of the State of Missouri to reevaluate its policy with respect to the location of group homes for the mentally and physically handicapped to see if the original legislative intent may have been changed due to the passage of federal law, and that the General Assembly amend Section 89.020.2 RSMo. to limit the number and type of group homes that can locate in a single family district so that the state law is consistent with the original legislative intent. The legislature should amend Section 89.020.2 RSMo. to allow local communities the discretion to determine whether they should grant to the Board of Adjustment the authority to grant use variances. The City also supports repeal of the amendment contained in SB22 allowing formation of a village under the conditions set forth in SB22.
D.4 Home Rule
The City continues its strong support for the home rule concept for all municipalities and the right contained therein of municipal self-determination. The City urges the General Assembly to refrain from enacting legislation in areas that can be dealt with better by local government. If legislation is passed, it is especially important to be sure state law does not conflict and override local laws, and that local government maintains the flexibility to legislate. Conflicts between state and local laws should be eliminated so problems that are local in nature can be dealt with at the local level.
D.5 Prevailing Wage
The City supports amendments to the prevailing wage law that would exempt de-minimus amounts for repair and maintenance work on public projects, thus eliminating undue burden and expense on small public projects. Uniform enforcement of the Prevailing Wage Law is also of concern to those agencies that are committed to complying with the Prevailing Wage Law. Enforcement can vary from county to county because enforcement occurs through the filing of criminal charges by the prosecutor in each county. The Prevailing Wage Law should be amended to provide for administrative enforcement through the revocation of business licenses for those who willfully violate the law. Efforts by the State to expand the prevailing wage law to cover contracts undertaken by private citizens with private funds should be addressed in the event there is an adverse ruling overturning the decision by the Greene County Circuit Court holding that such contracts are not subject to the prevailing wage law.
D.6 Clarification of Municipal/County Roles
Missouri has more special purpose districts than almost any other state. This has led to the fragmentation of government services and inefficiencies in the delivery of government services, resulting in higher costs to the taxpayer. The City recommends that the public policy of the State of Missouri discourage fragmentation of government services by clearly delineating the role of the State, county, municipal governments and special districts in order to make the delivery of government services more efficient. State statutes should be revised to provide that government agencies providing a multitude of general governmental services should be given the opportunity to provide those services prior to creation of special districts.
D.7 Legislation Technical Corrections
From time to time, the City of Springfield supports legislation which is passed by the General Assembly, and thereafter the legislation may be found to have technical problems which need to be corrected. The City's policy is to continue efforts to make technical corrections to laws passed as part of the City Council's legislative policies. In addition, the City supports the State creating and passing an annual legislative technical corrections bill that takes into account the results of court rulings striking down parts of statutes. Presently there are a number of State statutes reported in the Revised Statutes that have been struck down. This leads to confusion and misinformation for members of the public who look to the State statute books for guidance. One example is Section 392.080, which had a phrase struck from it that purported to give telephone companies a property interest in public rights-of-way. Although this portion of the statute was struck in 1981, the language continues to appear in the statutes.
D.8 Building Codes
During the Second Session of the 87th General Assembly, legislation was proposed that would have established a statewide, standardized building code for municipalities. Although municipal officials recognize the importance of building codes, any state mandate would violate the constitution; therefore, the citizens of the State would be better served by legislation granting financial assistance to municipalities that do not have the resources to administer a local building code program or providing for a county or neighboring city to charge for this service with building permit fees through an interlocal agreement. The City encourages all municipalities that have the resources to adopt and administer building codes. Further, the City opposes any attempts by the General Assembly to preempt locally adopted building codes by requiring municipalities to adopt a standardized state code. However, the City strongly urges the State of Missouri to consider the adoption of a model building code that would be applicable to jurisdictions that do not have such a code, with the State being responsible for funding adequate enforcement.
D.9 Annexation
- The General Assembly of the State of Missouri should pass simplified consent annexation procedures which would permit two-thirds of the owners of all fee interest of record and all tracts of real property located within a subdivision to petition for consent annexation. The City strongly opposes any legislation that restricts the ability of a municipality to extend municipal services into newly annexed areas. Further, the City urges the repeal of current laws that restrict the extension of municipal services into annexed areas. The statute should not be amended to delete language, which permits annexation along the road or highway for up to two miles.
- The consent annexation law should also be amended to provide that only property owners can object to consent or involuntary annexations, since they are the parties required to give their consent or who will be directly impacted by annexation. Persons who are not property owners should not be able to defeat the request of the property owner for annexation as is currently provided under Missouri law. The annexation law should be amended to eliminate the requirement of a second election if the first election results in a two-thirds majority of the combined total vote of the area annexing and the area being annexed.
- The City supports legislation authorizing municipalities and counties to enter into Urban Service Agreements setting boundaries for expansion and provision of services and recognizing the legal enforceability of such agreements.
D.10 Cable Television Legislation
The Federal Cable Act should permit cities to have authority and freedom to act in the areas of franchising, specifically to deny franchises, set and enforce standards of consumer service, permit competition, allow easier access for competitors to programming, and provide immunity from damages in denial of a franchise renewal. The authority now granted to the cities should not be diluted in any fashion and the emphasis of the legislative effort should be redirected towards consumer service and local authority.
The implementation of the 1992 Federal Cable Act by the FCC should be administered to permit cities to have more authority and freedom to act in the areas of franchising, specifically to deny franchises, set and enforce standards of consumer service, permit competition, allow easier access for competitors to programming, and provide immunity from damages in denial of a franchise renewal. Federal legislation should cover telephone companies’ (Telcos) and others’ entry into the cable or video dial tone service. The regulation of Telcos and others must be compatible to that of the Cable Act, including the requirement for Telcos and others to be franchised by local authorities.
D.11 Local Government Organization
The City urges the General Assembly to establish basic uniform standards relating to incorporation, boundary adjustment and consolidation of cities, villages and non-school special purpose districts to ensure government organizations of the future are capable of carrying out their responsibilities. Further, the City recommends the Legislature establish self-executing legislation that provides any governmental entity which has not held an election, adopted a budget and complied with other mandatory state laws for a period of three years be declared by the State to be disincorporated and notification of the disincorporation be provided to the county court by the State.
D.12 Concealed Weapons
The law on carrying a concealed weapon allows persons who have permits to carry concealed weapons on public property where local ball games and other recreation activities are being held in our City parks. The City supports amendments to the concealed weapons law that would allow the prohibition of concealed weapons in buildings, playgrounds, parks, pools, athletic or recreational facilities owned, leased or controlled by a governmental entity. This would address concerns expressed by police, park, and public officials. The City also supports efforts to educate the public about the dangers of guns and promote gun safety.
D.13 Fire Safety
In recent years the General Assembly has shown a willingness to consider legislation that would allow fire protection districts to provide fire protection to area annexed by a municipality. Under these initiatives, fire protection districts maintain their taxing authority and are the exclusive fire protection provider instead of the municipality. The City of Springfield hopes that our legislators will refrain from considering such initiatives and allow Chapter 310 sections 220 and 230 to continue to govern this area without amendment.
Additionally, the City supports the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2003 (HR 1824 and S 1566), which gives federal tax incentives for businesses and apartments to retrofit buildings to meet new fire safety standards. It will assist in our ISO rating and our accreditation and will assist in addressing the fire difficulties experienced with respect to apartments. It could also encourage property owners to retrofit their buildings by improving their insurance rates.
D.14 Digital TV Transition
The City supports efforts to speed up the transition of TV analog broadcasts to the more advanced digital technology. Moving these uses out of the analog spectrum will free up valuable spectrum that can be used for urgently needed upgrades in emergency communications for law enforcers, firefighters, and emergency medical responders.
