A penny here ...

One ballot, one "yes" vote and a one-cent sales tax could change a Cape Girardeau shopping center.

The real question is how Town Plaza shoppers will feel about paying 1 percent more on purchases. The tax starts July 1.

Greater Missouri Builders, owner of the Town Plaza, will cast the "yes" vote.

The special tax resulted from Cape Girardeau's city council's decision to create the city's first Community Improvement District (CID) in April, specifically for Town Plaza. A CID is a limited government entity with the ability to institute the sales tax.

On Tuesday morning, Town Plaza's CID board met for the first time to elect officers and approve the ballot. Kent Evans, vice president of Greater Missouri Builders, was named chairman. Bill Zellmer, owner of the Town Plaza's Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, is secretary and represents Plaza tenants. Paul B. "Scott" Campbell, Greater Missouri's president, is the CID board's vice chairman. Dan Barnard was named treasurer.

Rodney Kuntze, of Gordonville, Mo., perused the pant options at Guy's Big Tall Tuesday, November 20, 2007. A one percent sales tax that will be used to improve and beautify Town Plaza will begin next summer for stores in that strip. (Kit Doyle)

The board also approved ballot language for the 1 percent tax, which will only be charged at Town Plaza shops. The single vote on the ballot will be cast by a Greater Missouri Builders official.

The ballot asks for a 1 percent tax with a 20-year sunset. The revenue pays for improvements ranging from building and grounds renovation to demolition and soil testing.

The city already approved two tax breaks for Town Plaza -- a 10-year 100 percent property tax abatement for NARS building improvements and a 15-year, 50-percent property tax abatement, both part of a state-sanctioned redevelopment program.

In all, Greater Missouri Builders will put $3.6 million into revitalizing the shopping center, Campbell said.

Curt and Penny Johns, owners of Guy's Big and Tall, said they welcome the improvements, but worry the new tax will keep customers at bay.

"My only beef is there's no sales tax revenue from NARS to help pay for this," Curt Johns said.

"This is going to be a hardship to customers, as high as everything's gone already," Penny Johns said, referring to the rising cost of gasoline and groceries.

Emily Stapleton, who opened Contours Express at the shopping center two years ago, said she'll have to choose between passing the sales tax along to customers or absorb the cost herself.

"Most likely I will go ahead and assess that to members," she said, estimating clients' monthly fees will rise by 34 cents on average.

Barbara Ezzell manages the Town Plaza's Hallmark store. She said collectors spend anywhere from $20 to $100 in a single visit. She worries that the tax may cause some to shop elsewhere.

Ezzell said she resents hearing Mayor Jay Knudtson repeatedly refer to the Town Plaza as "blighted."

Eric Cunningham, the city's attorney, said "blight" is part of a legal description used to qualify for redevelopment tax breaks under state law.

The family who owns the shopping center next to Town Plaza, the 108,000-square-foot Independence Center, is watching what happens.

Trace Jessup, project director for Cozmo's Cafe at Independence Center, wondered what it would take to participate in a CID.

"I don't think 1 percent is going to deter my clients because you can't get my product anywhere else," he said.

How Town Plaza shoppers will respond remains to be seen.

"A penny here and a penny there is not a big deal," Zellmer said. Stapleton was not so sure.

"Maybe it's not that big a deal. Maybe it's perception," Stapleton said. "But if sales tax doesn't matter, why do we have a tax holiday? People mob the stores for 1 percent, 7 percent. It matters."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127