Cape Girardeau voters to see more tax votes in future

Cape Girardeau voters will see more tax issues on future election ballots, city officials said Monday night.

Extending existing tax measures in the coming years will be “absolutely critical” to funding of capital improvements including streets, sewers and buildings, deputy city manager Molly Hood told the city council at a special study session.

In April, city voters will decide the fate of a proposed use tax on out-of-state purchases and renewal of a tax on out-of-state purchases of vehicles.

But Hood said three existing sales taxes will come up for renewal in successive years, starting in 2018.

A three-eighth-cent sales tax for parks and stormwater projects, approved by voters in 2008, will sunset in 2018 unless voters agree to extend it.

Another one-eighth-cent tax for parks and stormwater operations is a permanent tax and won’t require any voter extension.

A capital-improvements sales tax for sewer improvements expires at the end of 2019.

City officials also plan to ask voters to extend that tax.

Plans call for using the sales tax to help fund various water-system improvements, officials said.

Voters in August approved a five-year extension of the transportation trust fund sales tax.

That tax will come up for renewal in 2020.

At the study session, city staff discussed a draft document with the council, detailing proposed capital improvements for the next five years, from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021.

The council will hold a public hearing on the plan at its regular meeting Feb. 15.

According to the city charter, the council must approve a capital-improvements plan before April 1 each year.

The plan envisions more than $107 million in capital-improvements spending during that time on projects for which there are dedicated funds to pay for them.

That total includes $40.7 million for streets and other transportation projects. $18.3 million for water and sewer improvements, $3.5 million for information technology improvements, $35 million for facilities and $9.7 million for fleet improvements.

The plan includes many other projects that are unfunded.

That wish list adds up to more than $150 million.

Improvements to city hall, which once was a public school, remain unfunded.

“We need to continue to keep an eye on city hall,” city manager Scott Meyer said. “Heating and cooling expenses are much higher than they should be.”

City officials have long discussed adding an elevator to the aging brick building.

The basement and second floor of city hall are not accessible to handicapped residents.

The capital-improvements plan estimates it would cost $220,000 to install an elevator.

The capital-improvements plan includes repairs to crumbling neighborhood streets.

It calls for the city to spend $1.55 million in fiscal 2017 on concrete street repairs.

Another $850,000 would be spent on removal and replacement of deteriorated sections of existing streets, curbs and gutters in 2017.

In 2018, city staff envision spending $700,000 on asphalt paving of existing streets.

Ward 5 Councilman Mark Lanzotti praised the focus on street repairs, calling it “fantastic.”

Council members advised the city staff to make a concerted effort to inform residents about planned street repairs.

Lanzotti and Mayor Harry Rediger said they have heard from residents who want to know when their streets will be fixed.

City staff pointed out the city’s website includes an interactive map residents can click on to see when their streets are scheduled to be repaired.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence, Cape Girardeau, Mo.