Governments · City

Springfield

City of Springfield: who runs it, what it spends and owes, how its commission votes, and what the auditors found, all from public records.

Data updated Oct 20, 2026

Residents9,2132025 state estimate

Budget$28.7MAdopted FY2026 · $3,110 per resident

New budget$19.6MFY2027 · adopted Sept 2026

Property tax rate4.865 mills$486 per $100,000 of taxable value

Debt$25.4M$2,755 per resident · FY2025

Who's in charge

Mayor-commission; mayor plus four ward commissioners. No city manager: the commission oversees staff directly, with a City Clerk

Elected

MayorRalph Hammond
Ward 1Jack Griffisserving since 2023
Ward 2Richard Chvalserving since 2024
Ward 3Jackie Kenningtonserving since 2016
Ward 4Cindy Hamreserving since 2022

Appointed staff

City ClerkTeresa Cox
Finance DirectorBeth Strobel
Fire ChiefBrian Eddins
Police ChiefBarry Roberts

Website · Contact · All officials

Property tax rate

Mills: dollars per $1,000 of taxable value

Tax year 20203.465

Tax year 20214.465

Tax year 20224.865

Tax year 20234.865

Tax year 20244.865

Tax year 20254.865

The tick on each bar is the rolled-back rate, the rate that would bring in the same money as the year before. The latest rate is above it, so the city takes in more from existing property than the year before. See your full tax bill

Debt

FY2025 (year ended 2025-09-30)

$25.4M owed — about $2,755 per resident. Notes from direct borrowings $17,902,896 (governmental) + $7,413,488 (State Revolving Fund, business-type) + leases $45,539 + SBITA $18,794. Excludes compensated absences ($167,173), pension and OPEB. Includes the $2,902,896 FEMA Community Disaster Loan that FEMA forgave in full on May 11, 2026 (after year end).

Kind of debt	Owed
Notes and loans	$25,316,384
Leases	$45,539
Software subscriptions (SBITAs)	$18,794

Audited financial statements · All local debt

What the auditors found

FY2025: 8 findings · FY2024: 11 findings · FY2023: 7 findings

Audit Adjusting Entries (first reported 2007) Repeat
The auditors had to make significant corrections to the city's books.
Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards Preparation (first reported 2007) Repeat
The city cannot prepare its own federal grant spending schedule; the auditors help, and multiple year-end grant entries were needed.
Bank Reconciliations (first reported 2007) Repeat
The pooled cash account in the ledger did not match the monthly and year-end bank reconciliations. Errors or fraud could go undetected.
Account Balances with Subsidiary Ledgers (first reported 2015) Repeat
Receivables, customer deposits and payables did not agree with their detail ledgers and were not reconciled during the year.

FY2025 audit · All audit findings

How they voted

63 money votes recorded · 1 split (2%)

Most recent split votes

Nov 4, 2024 · 4-1
Rezoned 900 Transmitter Road land use to commercial
Voted no: Ralph Hammond

All Springfield votes, by member

Contracts

8 major contracts since October 2022 · $31.7M

Largest

ReliantSouth · $22.3M City Complex construction (2024-10-03) Source
Reliant South · $5.7M Civic Center construction (2025-06-02) Source
Mainline Construction · $1.8M CDBG-DR Nature Park construction project (2026-02-02) Source

All Springfield contracts