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Southern Hills Shopping Center seeks taxing district 

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A court filing calls for the establishment of a Southern Hills Shopping Center transportation development district in the 2900 block of East Sunshine Street, a half mile west of U.S. Highway 65. 

Southern Hills Investment Trust LLC and Southern Hills Plaza LLC, owners of the shopping center, filed the petition June 14, naming the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission and the city of Springfield as respondents. 

A TDD is a political subdivision with the power to issue bonds, levy taxes and apply special assessments or tolls to fund transportation-related improvements, according to an explanation on the city’s website. 

Springfield has three TDDs on file with the state: College Station, the Heer’s building and the East-West Arterial covering Evans Road west of Highway 65, according to DOR.Mo.gov. 

According to the filing, the Southern Hills project aims to construct new connections to public roads, provide stormwater improvements, construct sidewalks, and build new driveways and parking lots. The filing also provides for grading, signing, lighting, traffic signals and related infrastructure. 

Planned work carries a price tag of $2.9 million, to be funded through an eighth-cent retail sales tax applied by businesses in the district for a period not to exceed 40 years. 

The Wooten Co. LLC, which serves as leasing agent for the shopping center, lists some current tenants that would be impacted by the tax as Dollar General, Panera Bread, Pet Warehouse, Salon East Suites, Hallmark, B&E Printing, ICI Glidden, Avon, Edward Jones, Mark Stalker Insurance Agency, Red Door Dance Co., My Hot Yoga, Robbins Photography and City Mexican Cuisine. 

The city’s website says TDDs may be used to fund transportation-related projects and are created through a petition to the circuit court, in this case the 31st Judicial District in Greene County. 

There is overlap between the projects permitted through a TDD and those eligible under a more commonly applied community improvement district, which is a legislative process instead of a judicial one. 

Christopher Hoeman, chief litigator for the city, said the taxing districts are similar in nature, but TDDs have a narrower focus, covering transportation projects. 

He said the city has not developed a position yet on the proposal. 

“We’re just looking at it pretty fresh as well,” he said. “We’re going to review this petition with city staff and develop our position on it, and we will respond appropriately in court.” 

Amanda Ohlensehlen, the city’s director of economic vitality, said the TDD was at the request of the developer. 

“There’s a whole myriad of tools and resources in the economic development realm authorized through the state of Missouri,” she said. “Developers themselves have the choice of which types of programs they would like to activate.” 

One difference a TDD offers is that it can fund public improvements that fall outside the boundaries of the district as long as they are directly related to the activities in the district, Ohlensehlen said. Roadway improvements are an example, and the Southern Hills plan does call for construction of a new connection to a roadway. 

Hoeman said a TDD project can be an ongoing one, or it can be created to fund a specific improvement. 

“Once they build it and pay it off, you can dissolve the TDD, and that infrastructure becomes part of the city’s infrastructure at that point,” he said.  

The court filing specifies the Southern Hills TDD would be dissolved by petition to the circuit court from the property owners. 

The filing shows projected sales tax revenues of $5.8 million for the 40-year period from 2023 to 2062. 

The petition was filed by David O’Reilly, representing Southern Hills Investment Trust LLC, and Curtis Jared, representing Southern Hills Plaza LLC. It was submitted by attorneys from Spencer Fane LLP.  

Jared did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. 

In an April 2017 visit to Springfield, former Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway called for a complete overhaul of transportation development district law. She noted an audit by her office found taxpayers are culpable for nearly $1 billion in outstanding project costs they did not vote on and for which there is little oversight or transparency – what she called an example of taxation without representation. 

“As a citizen, the TDD laws are rigged against you,” she said at the time. 

There are no registered voters living in the TDD, which would be overseen by a five-member board of directors who represent the property owners in the district. The city and state may each appoint an adviser to the board, per statute. 

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