COUNCIL TO CONSIDER FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE ORDINANCE

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday will consider whether to adopt its own financial disclosure law for city officials. The action would put the city in compliance with new ethics requirements mandated by the Missouri General Assembly.

The council also will conduct public hearings on new utility franchises with Union Electric and on next year's city property tax rate.

The Missouri Legislature recently adopted Senate Bill 262, which requires disclosure of personal financial information for elected officials and other public employees.

The measure requires detailed disclosures that include income sources, corporate interests, names of relatives who are city employees or lobbyists, property, and stock holdings.

In a council letter, City Attorney Warren Wells said cities may adopt their own ordinance that could be less detailed and require different disclosures than the state guidelines.

If the city fails to adopt its own law, affected officials and employees will be required to complete a "long form" disclosure statement that includes 24 types of information.

But with a local disclosure law, officials can file the so-called "short form," which is less detailed than the longer statement, Wells said.

"The city has until Sept. 15, 1991, to adopt its own ordinance if that is the desire of the council," Wells said. "If that date passes before our ordinance is adopted, then the state regulations will automatically take effect and the affected officials and employ

IP0,0ees will be covered under the state statute and will be using the `long form' for disclosure of personal financial interests."

IP1,0The minimum reporting requirements in a local ordinance would include the following disclosures:

Each elected official, chief administrative officer, chief purchasing officer and full-time attorney must disclose any personal business transactions with the city.

The chief administrative officer and chief purchasing officer must disclose the names and addresses of businesses they own, other employers who paid them more than $1,000, and any corporate boards on which they serve.

The city may also include other information on the disclosure forms that it deems pertinent.

The utility franchise hearing is an opportunity for the public to comment on new 20-year electric and gas franchises with Union Electric Co.

The city also will seek public reaction to proposed city property tax rates for the next fiscal year.

The city staff has proposed keeping the same tax rate, 58 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, that it established last year.

The rate earmarks 30 cents for the General Fund, 4 cents for the Health Fund, 10 cents for the Debt Service Fund and 14 cents for the Library Fund.

The city's assessed valuation is $241 million, and property tax revenue is estimated to be $1.34 million.

The city council also will be setting the tax rate for the downtown business area, formally called Special Business District No. 2.

The staff has proposed a 3-cent hike in the tax levy for the area, bringing the tax to 80 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The tax will raise about $12,000 to be used for various improvements within the special district.

In other business, the council will consider two matters related to the latest Community Development Block Grant program in the city's southeast side.

In a council letter, City Planner Kent Bratton said the city is required by state regulations to revise the city's eligibility guidelines for the housing rehabilitation program.

In the past, the city only rehabilitated owner-occupied homes. Also, there was a two-year ownership requirement to be eligible for the rehabilitation grants.

"For the new program, we are proposing that the two-year ownership prequalification be eliminated and that rental units be eligible for rehabilitation," Bratton said. "Priority will still be given to owner-occupied units."

Bratton said the city also must adopt revised minimum standards for the Community Development Block Grant program. The standards, based on federal housing assistance standards, are used to ensure that rehabilitated housing will be "safe, decent and sanitary," Bratton said.

The council also will consider a resolution authorizing a paving contract with Apex Paving Co. for the second group of streets in the city's three-inch asphalt overlay program.

Apex Paving was the sole bidder on the work, and their bid of $66,955 was below the city engineer's estimate of $80,560.