Investment is needed to keep Cape a hub

To the editor:

In response to the editorial "TIF plan now up to commission, council": I probably should have attended one of the hearings, but I am puzzled why Jackson people would attend in opposition to the TIF project. I suspect the reason is it would be good for Cape Girardeau and bad for Jackson based on the fact that Cape has not grown for the past 20 years and Jackson has.

Cape is in a very precarious position. It has been the Southeast Missouri trade center for many years. But as Jackson, Farmington, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston grow and provide more and more of the same retail and service opportunities as Cape has, there is less and less reason for these people to come to Cape for shopping, doctors and entertainment. Cape's sales tax revenue will begin to ebb at the core much more so than by fluctuations in the economy.

Large, new investment is needed in the Cape Girardeau economic community. The bridge, hospitals, university, conservation center, water park and federal courthouse are all great, but they produce no property-tax revenue. The big thinkers will have to decide if TIF and other incentives are needed to attract people to invest in Cape Girardeau.

BOB ROBINS

Cape Girardeau