Election roundup: Tax issues on ballots in four local counties

Voters will decide tax issues on the ballot Tuesday in the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson and in Bollinger, Perry and Stoddard counties.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson have two tax issues on the ballot that seek added funding for public safety.

One would retain the existing sales tax on out-of-state vehicle purchases. The second measure would enact a new use tax on other out-of-state purchases.

In Cape Girardeau, the taxes would generate an estimated $1.25 million annually. The bulk of the money would be used to hire seven additional police officers, retain three grant-funded officers and help pay for construction of a new police station.

Jackson city officials say the taxes in their city would generate several hundred thousand dollars annually. The money would be used to add as many as three new police officers and provide an additional resource officer for the Jackson School District.

Cape Girardeau city officials have stressed the use tax would be paid largely by businesses, which already pay both state and county use taxes.

“If you are not paying a use tax now, you probably won’t be paying it,” Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger said at a town-hall meeting earlier this year.

People who buy more than $2,000 worth of items from out-of-town vendors in a calendar year legally would be taxed. But city officials privately acknowledge most people wouldn’t bother reporting such purchases and paying such a tax.

A Cape Girardeau County anti-tax group has opposed the tax issues in both cities. Debra Jenkins, a member of the group, said city officials in Cape Girardeau and Jackson need to do a better job of spending revenue rather than seeking tax increases.

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce have endorsed the tax issues.

Perry County

Perry County voters will decide whether to extend an existing three-eighth-cent sales tax for 20 years. The tax would be used to fund major repairs to the Perry Park Center and the Perry County Courthouse. It would finance repairs to the county’s administration building and allow for various other park improvements, including construction of an outdoor splash pad.

Presiding Commissioner Carl Lueckel Jr. said more than 50 percent of the tax revenue would be generated by visitors.

Bollinger County

In Bollinger County, residents will vote on a proposed half-cent sales tax. If approved, the tax would generate an extra $300,000 annually to pay for road improvements in a county that is dotted with bumpy, gravel roads.

Bollinger County residents often have been at odds with the County Commission on how roads have been maintained. Some voters have objected to the tax measure.

Presiding Commissioner Travis Elfrink said, “People don’t want to vote another tax in, but the money has to come from somewhere.”

In the Meadow Heights School District, voters are asked to approve a proposal to borrow $650,000 to install a new security system at the school, repair the gymnasium roof, build a new driveway, install backup generators and make other improvements.

School officials said the debt-service, property-tax levy would remain at its current level.

Voters in the Leopold area will decide whether to incorporate the local fire protection district and levy a 30-cent tax per $100 assessed valuation.

Stoddard County

Stoddard County voters will decide the fate of a measure that will allow future upgrades to 911 emergency communication services. The measure would eliminate a tax on landline phone bills and replace it with a 3/16th-cent sales tax. The tax would amount to 19 cents on a $100 purchase.

Revenue from the current landline-phone tax has declined as more people use cellphones exclusively, according to 911 administrator Carol Moreland.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

---

Cape Girardeau use-tax annual spending plan

• Hire seven police officers, $385,000
• Replace restaurant-tax funds earmarked for police-station project, $333,000
• Keep three grant-funded police officers on duty, $165,000
• Replace revenue lost from proposed replacement of gross-receipts tax with flat fee for some businesses, $135,000.
• Add mental-health, professional services to the police department, $92,000
• Hire fire-training officer, $70,000
• Hire safety coordinator for the city, $70,000

Source: City of Cape Girardeau