GENERAL REVENUE TAX RATE IN CAPE COUNTY REMAINS NONEXISTENT

JACKSON - For the 12th consecutive year the Cape Girardeau County Commission has set the general revenue property tax levy at zero.

In 1981, a half-cent sales tax for general revenue was enacted after voters approved the measure. According to state law, half of the income from the sales tax is to be used for rolling back the property tax levy.

With the rollback provision, Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said the commission could still have put on a property tax of 4-5 cents, which would have generated about $225,000.

"You might say we forgave taxpayers $225,000 that we could have collected by law," said Huckstep.

In fact, since 1982, the county commission has forgiven more than $3 million in property taxes by establishing the property tax rate at zero. In some years, the county commission has forgiven more than a half-million dollars in taxes.

"We've forgiven a lot of taxes; but we didn't need it, so why collect it," said Huckstep.

Cape County's half-cent sales tax will generate about $3.3 million this year. In 1993, the county's general revenue budget is $5.75 million.

The zero property tax has been a point of pride over the years in Cape Girardeau County, not only for members of the county commission, but for all officeholders as well.

Cape Girardeau County was one of the first counties in the state to roll back the levy to zero after implementing a sales tax.

The commission also voted to keep its road and bridge property tax levy at 23 cents for 1993, where it has been for several years. By law, the commission could set a rate of up to 35 cents without voter approval.

The annual road and bridge budget for Cape County is $1.7 million. The property tax levy generates about $400,000 of that budget.

Governmental entities around the state are setting tax rates this month, which will be compiled by county clerks, applied to real estate and personal property valuations compiled by county assessors, and mailed out by county collectors in 1993 tax bills that are due at the end of the year.

In Cape Girardeau County, tax bills are usually in the mail by the middle part of November.