Greg Burris will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m

I attended the police and fire board meeting yesterday and Mr. Burris did as he said he was going to do RAISE TAXES. The company tasked with finding a solution was asked to only look in one direction 1% sales tax which according to the city management should generate $40 MILLION annually. It will require at minimum 6 years to fund the pension to a level that will become self sustaining.
I recommend that ALL Springfield residents get a tax exempt card from this additional 1% since residents have paid for this once already and through mismanagement and neglect we are having to fund it again.

Springfield City Manager Greg Burris will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23, to discuss a proposal for addressing the funding shortfall in the City’s Police and Fire Pension System.

The news conference will take place in City Council Chambers in Historic City Hall. The news conference will feature the Powerpoint presentation that Burris will be showing to community groups, followed by questions and answers.

The news conference will include representatives from the Police Officer’s & Firefighter’s Retirement System Board of Trustees and the Police and Fire departments.

The news conference will air live on TV23, Mediacom Channel 23, and on the City’s Web site at: www.springfieldmo.gov/community/tv23/. The video and Powerpoint also will be linked afterward at www.springfieldmo.gov/cityconnect.

The Board of Trustees has established a new Web site with extensive background information about the pension system. This new section is located on the City Web site at: www.springfieldmo.gov/egov/boards/firepension/.

For more information, contact: Louise Whall, Director of Public Information, 864-1010.