Community Improvement District group starts over with drawing district boundaries

An update given to the Cape Girardeau City Council at its Monday night meeting revealed that members of the Downtown Cape Girardeau Community Improvement District steering committee have started "back at square one" in their efforts to bring the idea to fruition.

The group has been working on the proposal since February 2010, gathering signatures from downtown property owners in order to establish a new sales and property tax that would fund downtown projects and enhance the area. The CID was one of the first recommendations of the DREAM Initiative.

Jim Maurer stood before the council to represent the committee. He said efforts to again gather signatures from property owners began last week, after the committee voted to redraw the district boundary map.

The new boundary runs the length of Water Street, and up Broadway to Park Avenue. Removed from the original district was South Sprigg Street and the area surrounding Good Hope Street. Maurer said these areas were removed because they were highly residential and many living in the area were opposed to the idea of the CID.

"We want to get as many people on board as possible," he said. "So we decided to scrap that and redraw the district and start again. We want as many people as possible to agree with the proposal and not oppose it."

With the newly redrawn district, the committee needs nearly 100 of the 181 property owners in the area to sign the petition to create a community improvement district.

Before new taxes can be enacted, registered voters within the district must approve them.

Once approved, businesses in the area would pay a self-imposed half-cent sales tax and property owners would pay a property tax of 0.6708 cents per $100 assessed valuation. According to Maurer, revenue generated from these taxes would amount to roughly $255,000 annually.

He said this money would go toward "enhancing the services the city provides ... not replacing them." The proposed services that would be provided in the CID would make the area "clean and attractive, safe, vibrant and professional," according to the committee's report. Specific services could include extra efforts to keep the district free of trash and litter and hiring private or off-duty security.

Maurer said the committee was making good progress on the acquisition of signatures for the petition and said he hoped to return to the council in a few months to report more substantial progress.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO