VOTERS NEED MORE SPECIFICS ABOUT TAX FOR TRANSPORTATION

Mayor Al Spradling thinks a third time might be a charm. The mayor is proposing that a half-cent transportation tax be placed before Cape Girardeau voters at the April election. Twice in the last eight years, voters have nixed the proposal, albeit by narrow margins on both occasions.

Were voters to approve a measure they have twice defeated, the proposed sales tax would generate an estimated $35.8 million over its 10-year life before expiring in 2005. The mayor says such a tax could generate sufficient funding to permit more rapid completion of major road projects. Among them would be extension of Hopper Road, reconstructing a segment of Perryville Road and the paving of many gravel streets. Readers can doubtless think of many more worthy projects besides those mentioned by the mayor. Straightening and widening of Bloomfield Road is one among many that come immediately to mind. Fixing the "washboard" surfaces of existing streets is another.

Among arguments that commend the idea of a sales tax is that Cape Girardeau is an increasingly vital retail and entertainment center. This means that thousands travel here from surrounding communities to shop, dine and be entertained. These visitors traverse our streets, goes the argument; why shouldn't they help shoulder the burden of their construction, maintenance and repair?

The argument has sufficient merit that voters in the neighboring towns of Perryville and Jackson have opted to enact the tax. Still, after two defeats, some reasonable questions deserve some straight answers. Among them: Is the mayor making a serious proposal on which he intends to follow through? Or is he just floating a trial balloon to see what the response is? When Spradling made his proposal, the lack of support from his fellow councilmen wa apparent. Reactions ranged from Councilman Richard Eggiman's open hostility and sarcasm to mostly silence from the rest.

It is worth mentioning the enormous good that such a tax, properly handled with plenty of planning, could do. People who, four or five years ago, perhaps did not understand the furor over the Lexington arterial project, can surely grasp its importance today. An explosion of new homebuilding and other development has followed only the partial completion of that major artery. The importance of its swift completion can hardly be overestimated.

Councilman Melvin Gateley made the sensible comment that before such a proposal could be seriously entertained, a detailed list of street improvements that would be funded would have to be placed before the voters. There is ample historical precedent for this. The recent history of successful road tax initiatives by the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department suggests the importance of placing such a list before the voters as part of a credible campaign to sell them on increased funding. Such a list would seem an essential first step.

Still other questions need to be addressed. The mayor stated at last week's council meeting that he preferred the sales tax approach to funding road improvements rather than draining city reserves. to pay for them. This raises the question, what is the state of the city reserves? Do we have a large cushion at hand? If so, what is the council's long-range plan for that money? If the amount is not large, why mention it in this context at all?

What, exactly, is the council doing with existing sources of tax money? With a number of new faces on the council, Cape Girardeau voters have every right to be asking these questions, and more, before giving their assent to a third attempt to pass a transportation tax.