Thanks, everyone, for the explanation.
I actually did end up using Admin Cheats (reached the same conclusion as Silvers above me), as I found no better solution. As for respawn, I even made a separate thread regarding it. I found that sv_cheats 0 only resets the cvars that have a cheat flag (the only explanation I can posit after seeing that not all are reset). Thus, after going one by one and testing which ones reset, I simply created a CFG that I attached after the sv_cheats 0 command.
So, I created the string of commands as follows to be able to respawn (fairly standard, but finnicky when considering resetting cvars):
sm_cvar sv_cheats 1;
respawn_all;
sm_cvar sv_cheats 0;
exec SvCheats0.cfg (I put basic server cvar values here so that they are maintained after they reset due to sv_cheats 0)
I bound all that to a key and that's that. Adding Admin Cheats on top of that allows me to cheat as an admin. Whenever a cheat that does not work with Admin Cheats needs to be used, I use the above formula to instantly turn off cheats again.
This is the best solution I could find after scouring all the internet - not only Alliedmodders.
Hope it helps others.
Cheers, everyone!