COUNTY COMMISSION OKs REVISED BUDGET

JACKSON, Mo. -- With little comment Thursday, Cape Girardeau County commissioners approved a revised 2001 budget that includes little in the way of capital improvements.

The county's chief budget officer, Auditor H. Weldon Macke, drew up a new budget only two weeks after submitting an initial budget that covered general operations and road and bridge spending but didn't include capital improvements. The county's fiscal year began Jan. 1.

The $14 million budget earmarks $1.3 million for capital improvements.

"There's no land purchases, no construction other than finishing up the jail," Macke said.

The biggest capital expense is $600,000 in final payments for construction of the new county jail in Jackson.

County bridge building is expected to cost more than $250,000, with most of that going for construction of a bridge on County Road 450 over Cane Creek near Jackson. Money also is budgeted for final expenses for a newly built bridge over Little Whitewater on County Road 351 near Millersville, Mo., and for engineering work in preparation for the future construction of a bridge over Lovejoy Creek on County Road 535 north of Neelys Landing, Mo.

Macke budgeted $427,146 for surfacing gravel roads, but 1st District Commissioner Larry Bock, who oversees the county's highway department, said the county likely won't spend that much money this year.

He said the county typically paves only four to six miles of county roads a year. It costs more than $60,000 a mile for asphalt paving.

The budget includes $50,000 for a new juvenile center. The money would be used for architectural expenses.

"If construction is begun, Cape County would issue revenue bonds to cover construction," Macke said in his new budget message.

The budget also includes $30,000 to pay off the remaining cost of a new telephone system that was installed in county offices last year at a cost of more than $200,000.