Council votes to extend fire sales tax ordinance

The Cape Girardeau City Council took its first step Monday in calling a November election for the fire sales tax.

The question to extend the one-eighth-cent portion of the fire tax, initially planned to appear on the August ballot, was moved to November after Gov. Jay Nixon placed the three-quarter-cent state transportation tax question on the August election.

Revenue from the fire tax helps purchase and maintain equipment for the city's police and fire departments. It also helps keep facilities updated.

Before the council took the vote, councilman Wayne Bowen said renewing the tax was vital to allow the public safety departments to continue providing services at the same level. Mayor Harry Rediger agreed that without the tax, there would be a step down in those services.

The council approved the measure unanimously, minus the vote of absent council member Patrick Koetting.

The mayor also said police and fire chiefs would work with city staff and the council to prepare a list of items that would be funded by the tax if it's renewed. He said there were many needs for both departments, the costs of which would not be totally covered by the fire tax, so the list first must be prioritized. The tax has brought in roughly $2.3 million annually for the past three years, according to the city's budget.

While a final project list has not yet been approved, Rediger said there are "definite needs" for the fire department for equipment and station improvements. The biggest need for police is obviously a new station, he said, but the cost would be too great to fund with the revenue from the fire tax. The city still is working to find funds for that project.

Rediger said the council will be making an effort in the coming months to communicate to voters the importance of renewing the fire sales tax and the good it has done for the city since it was first approved in 2004.

"If we lose this [tax] ... all realms will take a step backward and we can't have that," he said.

If the tax extension is approved in November, it will not take effect until April 1. That is because Missouri statute provides that sales tax measures approved by voters do not become effective until the start of the second quarter of the year.

Other business

The council gave initial approval to an ordinance accepting a quit-claim deed from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for property along Interstate 55.

If the measure receives final approval at the next meeting, the city will receive the approximately 0.60 acres for additional right of way for the Veterans Memorial Drive Phase 5 Project, which extends from Scenic Drive to Hopper Road.

When Veterans Memorial Drive is complete, it will provide an alternate north-south route to I-55 and U.S. 61.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.