At the March 31 Springfield City Council meeting, several members expressed discontent with what they feel is a lack of sufficient city representation for a potential new government authority that would be responsible for managing the construction of a new downtown hotel and expanding the BOS Center.
Earlier that day, a bipartisan group of elected officials held a press conference at the BOS Center to support Senate Bill 3499, introduced by state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield. Only one city official, Mayor Misty Buscher, was in attendance. The bill would create a new governing board, the Capital Area Tourism Authority, responsible for promoting business development and tourism in downtown Springfield.
Ward 3. Ald. Roy Williams said he was irritated that the bill would give the city only one appointed member on the board – the same number as the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority – while the Sangamon County Board gets three appointees.
“Let’s be clear with the citizens that we need to stand up to this mayor and to our state senator, if we have to, that we’re not happy,” Williams said. “Sixty percent of the hotels, motels are in the city, who do they think they’re fooling?”
The $200 million project would be funded by utilizing Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds as a community reinvestment tool. It’s a strategy the Pritzker administration has been encouraging across the state for communities to spur economic growth.
At the press conference, Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said that Turner “has packed this bill with a number of levers for revenue: the building (of) the hotel itself, revenue from a potential additional hotel/motel tax, revenue from the incremental sales tax that will be generated by the hotel and expanded convention center.”
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The bill’s current language would “impose a tax under a specified provision of the Counties Code on all hotel operators who engage in business as a hotel operator within a STAR bond district that is established in the territory of the Authority.” That territory would be bounded by “Walnut Street on the west, North Grand Avenue on the north, 11th Street on the east, and South Grand Avenue on the south.”
Williams said the bill, as it is currently written, would allow the Capital Area Tourism Authority to work on multiple projects, weakening local control over redevelopment of downtown.
“When you finish, that’s just one project – that parking lot, that expansion, that’s just one project. The legislation says projects within the zone,” he said. “We have to take a serious look, and get serious about this. And if they want to do it, fine, but we have to be in the driver’s seat as the City Council or else they just diluted a whole lot of power.”
The bill does not explicitly limit the number of projects the authority may engage in at a time.
Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory, whose ward includes a portion of downtown, said he had been in touch with Turner about his opposition to the bill and argued it would be an overreach. Gregory also filed a formal witness slip as an opponent to the bill.
“These are expansive governmental powers, including fiscal and land-related authorities. Critically, the list of powers do not contain any requirement that the city of Springfield must approve of these actions,” he said. “It’s something that we as a community are going to have to look into from not only an aldermanic standpoint, but even a class action (perspective).”
Gregory also noted that Sangamon County owns the land where the hotel would be built.
“We understand the county owns that (parking) lot; that’s a payday for them,” Gregory said.
Last year, the county, city and SMEAA fielded proposals for bidders to fulfill those plans. It’s unclear if another request for proposals will be posted or if elected officials have identified companies from responses to the initial RFP.
Senate Bill 3499 remains in the Senate Revenue committee. Another bill, Senate Bill 2829, which would expand the powers of the Mid-Illinois Medical District and is also part of what Turner called “the downtown reinvestment package,” is awaiting assignment.
