City looks at transportation-tax projects, approves budget

Those attending the Cape Girardeau City Council meeting Monday night caught a glimpse of some of the information that will be presented to the public over the next few months as part of the Transportation Trust Fund 5 information campaign.

Transportation Trust Fund 4 expires at the end of the year, and the city is asking residents to consider voting Aug. 4 to approve a fifth installment of the half-cent sales tax that funds transportation projects on a pay-as-you-go basis.

TTF was first approved by voters in 1995 and has been renewed every five years since. As each renewal comes, the city forms a list of projects to be funded, pending the renewal and disseminates information about the projects and the tax itself ahead of the vote. The city will be keeping with that tradition this year, seeking help from a citizen committee.

Planning and Zoning Commission member Trae Bertrand is the chairman. Other members also served in the committee that spent most of last year forming the initial list of projects to be funded by TTF 5.

The finalized list, shaped based on priorities outlined by the public at meetings in February and March, includes seven projects, general maintenance and a neighborhood street repair program for a total of $27.2 million. The street repair program is funded through money repurposed from the Armstrong Drive project, a TTF 3 project dropped because a Century Farm in the area increased right-of-way costs. The projects also have a focus on repairing existing roads, rather than building new.

TTF has led to more than $80 million in projects that have touched every corner of the city, said assistant city manager Molly Hood. Bertrand said he "couldn't imagine where the city would be right now" without TTF, and praised the city working with the public and maintaining a sense of accountability with each renewal.

"There's quite a bit of history voters can lean on when making a decision [on TTF 5]," said Bertrand.

The citizen committee soon will begin offering presentations on TTF. City manager Scott Meyer said local organizations hosting public meetings are welcome to contact his office to request a visit from the committee or city staff to offer more information about TTF 5.

Other business

Council members also cast final votes on the ordinances for the city's budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. It approved a $79.4 million budget that includes implementation of a worker-pay study completed earlier this year to make the city more competitive with others of similar size. It includes the hiring of three jailers, two police officers and a code inspector to enforce standards for properties under the city's residential rental program.

Written into the budget was an increase to water and trash rates. Council gave final approval to the ordinance increasing residential and commercial water rates by 3 percent and residential solid waste charges and base tipping fees at the transfer station by about 5 percent.

Over the past four years, including the proposed increases for 2015-2016, the average residential utility bill will have risen from $73.29 to $75.49 a month, according to the city. That equals an average annual increase of 0.75 percent to the average utility bill.

It's the first increase in water rates since 2011, and trash rates last increased in 2013. When one resident spoke out against the city's decision to raise utility rates, Mayor Harry Rediger said staff's ability to control costs all those years, even with the rising costs of equipment and other items, was deserving of "an accolade rather than a criticism."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.