FEW SIGN UP FOR TAX-ASSESSMENT HEARINGS

Cape Girardeau County's Board of Equalization has heard few complaints this summer. The lack of interest is somewhat surprising considering the assessed valuation increased for more than 18,000 residential and commercial properties. Notices of the assessment changes were sent out earlier this year.

Many people may realize that local properties have been woefully underassessed. Others may simply accept whatever the assessor says. Still others may not realize the full implications of the assessments until their tax bills arrive in the mail.

After the assessment notices arrived this spring, more than 600 property owners contacted the county assessor's office. But Assessor Jerry Reynolds and his staff apparently did a good job explaining what had happened and addressing property owners' concerns. Only a handful of the complaints actually went on to the Board of Equalization.

The whole assessment process is a two-edged sword. Most property owners don't want to pay big tax bills. However, most people would also like to know that the value of their home or business is growing. Property can be a mighty good investment -- especially in a booming community.

More than half of the county's property parcels increased in assessed valuation. That's due to a major countywide reassessment this spring that was long overdue. It was the first major reassessment since 1985.

Some of the properties' assessed values increased more than 30 percent.

But that doesn't mean tax collections will rise by similar margins. Taxing entities must roll back tax rates to allow much smaller increases.

School districts and others must set those tax rates in the coming weeks. These rollbacks will actually determine the actual tax bills.

Cape Girardeau County's assessment continues to expand at impressive rates. The total assessed valuation jumped by $67.14 million last year to a total of $639 million.

Both Cape Girardeau and Jackson continue to demonstrate strong growth: $35 million in Cape Girardeau and $15.3 million in Jackson over last year.

Board of Equalization hearings can continue through end of the month. Property owners can also appeal to the county Board of Appeals in August, but that rarely happens. It could be the fact that the members of the Board of Equalization and Board of Appeals are one in the same.

No one likes to pay more taxes. But most property owners enjoy the fact their investments are increasing in value.

SHARE THE PUBLIC-ACCESS TV CHANNEL

The cities of Jackson and Cape Girardeau may soon share the same public-access Channel 5 for public service announcements.

That's as it should be.

The cities share the local cable franchise, and it's only right that they should share the access channel.

Cape Girardeau cable committee recommended refusal of the agreement because Cape organizations were already taking up a big chunk of the announcement time and space.

But what's the alternative? If Jackson secured its own public-access channel, that would be one less channel taken from the lineup. Surely that should be the last option.

We applaud Mayor Al Spradling for his interest in a cooperative agreement with Jackson -- despite the cable committee's recommendation.

Cape Girardeau isn't operating in a vacuum. Residents of Cape Girardeau and Jackson routinely work and play in both towns.

It's one of those lessons we should have learned in kindergarten: Share and share alike.