Cape Girardeau County poised for economic rebound

Cape Girardeau County is in good financial condition and poised to move ahead, county officials say.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones was among those giving a presentation on the state of the county at the Pachyderm Club meeting Thursday night at the Holiday Inn. He said county growth will lead to positive changes, such as the nature center being planned for Cape Girardeau County Park.

He said the 20,000-square-foot center should be done by Feb. 1, 2003. It will also act as a conservation campus for schools within a 100-mile radius.

"Not only will it be a great educational tool, but we expect the center to attract 200,000 people a year to Cape Girardeau," Jones said.

The county will be leasing the land to the Missouri Department of Conservation over a 99-year period, Jones said, with an estimated cost of $6.3 million.

Jones said the project, like the county jail built last year, should help increase county revenue.

Because federal prisoners are housed at the new facility, federal dollars pay for the bonds used to construct the facility, thus producing revenue for the county, Jones said.

He said the county needs help increasing funds for the jail because of decreased funding from the state and federal government. For example, he said, the state is supposed to pay $22 a day for prisoners housed at the jail facility, but is trying to reduce that to $17 a day.

The county's cost, he said, is closer to $29 a day.

Because county jails statewide are having this problem, the county may join a class-action suit against the state.

"We just think it is only fair that the state should operate under its own statutes," said Jones.

He said the county has similar problems with providing prisoners medical care. Last year, he said, the county had to pay $49,000.

"That is something that should be paid by the state," he said.

Jones said the county has had other problems with federal and state programs. He cited the Work Force Investment Program, which is designed to train people on welfare to re-enter the work force.

The program was placed in the county without money to operate it, Jones said.

"It just simply doesn't make sense to ask us to do this without giving the funding for it," he said.

Despite these problems and economic downturns resulting in some sales tax revenue decreases, Jones said, Cape Girardeau County is doing well.

County Collector Diane Diebold said this year $43.8 million was collected in the county, mainly through property taxes. That money supports school districts, road districts and other county services.

Former Cape Girardeau County Auditor Weldon Macke said he believes the county has turned the economic corner and can expect at least 1 to 2 percent sales-tax growth in the future.

For more information about the Pachyderm Club, call Macke at 243-2184.