Hoping for voters' green light

Cape officials say the list of street improvements showcases why voters should extend the tax next month.

Tired of the dust, Cape Girardeau residents who lived on gravel streets welcomed passage of the city's first transportation sales tax 10 years ago because city officials promised to pave their streets.

The streets were paved, and the city has made a long list of other road improvements that current and former city officials say showcases why voters need to continue the half-cent sales tax for another five years.

Transportation Trust Fund 3, or TTF3 for short, is on the Aug. 2 ballot. A simple majority is needed for passage.

Former mayor Al Spradling III remembers when the city didn't have millions of dollars for street improvements.

"We were getting calls from residents on gravel streets. A lot of people were complaining about problems with dust," he recalled.

"We had no resources to improve and upgrade existing streets," Spradling said.

At one of the public meetings leading up to the August 1995 tax vote, the Rev. Hal Green said, "We're all just tired of eating the dust."

Rene Pingel, who lives on Jasmine Lane, remembers when her street was a dusty gravel road. The street was later paved thanks to the transportation sales tax.

"It is so much nicer," she said.

The city ended up paving about four miles of gravel streets spread throughout the community, city planner Kent Bratton said. Property owners along those streets paid part of the cost, but much of it was funded with transportation sales tax money.

The streets never would have been paved without the tax money because it would have been too costly for affected property owners to pay the expense, city officials said.

Voters approved the half-cent sales tax in August 1995 and extended it another five years in 2000.

Since the inception of the tax, the city has earmarked more than $40 million for road improvements.

Extending the tax another five years would generate another estimated $20.3 million for street improvements.

City officials hope past accomplishments will sell voters on the tax issue.

Through TTF1 and TTF2 the city has completed 20 specific road projects, including widening Broadway from Clark Avenue to Perry Avenue. Five others are in the planning stages or under construction.

General street repairs, sidewalk construction and street lighting improvements also have been done with money from the sales tax. Once-dark streets have been illuminated with installation of new streets lights funded by the tax.

City residents have supported the tax because they see tangible results, Spradling said.

'A sacred cow'

From the beginning, city officials have spelled out the improvements to be made with the tax money and have kept their promises, former and current city leaders say.

Mayor Jay Knudtson said past and current city officials have never wavered from the list of construction projects put before the voters in each election.

"That list is a sacred cow," he said. "It is a commitment that city government makes to its citizens."

The tax also is a good way to pay for street improvements in a city that draws shoppers from throughout the region, the mayor said.

Commuters and shoppers expand the population of Cape Girardeau to about 100,000 on any given day, city officials estimate.

That's a lot of people driving on city streets and putting wear and tear on the pavement, Knudtson said.

With a sales tax, all of those who use the city streets pay for it and not just Cape Girardeau residents, he said.

But that philosophy alone didn't sell voters on the tax initially.

They rejected a transportation sales tax in 1986 and again in 1987. In 1986, the proposal was for a permanent tax. In 1987, the proposed tax would have been limited to five years.

In 1995, the city council again sent the proposal before voters. Besides including a five-year sunset clause, the council agreed to establish a trust fund to ensure that the money would be spent solely on road and bridge projects.

City and civic leaders believe the trust fund and the fact that the city has to go back to the voters every five years are key reasons why voters have backed the tax.

In August 1995, the tax passed by a 1,638-vote margin, 68 percent to 32 percent. More than 4,600 people cast ballots in the election.

In August 2000, voters extended the tax but only by a 272-vote margin in an election in which 3,750 residents cast ballots. The tax extension was approved by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin.

Melvin Gateley, who was on the city council in 1995, helped spearhead efforts to pass the tax.

He said city officials, along with the Vision 2000 civic group, the planning and zoning commission and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce worked together to sell voters on the tax with many public meetings.

The initial plan for street improvements was fashioned with input from Cape Girardeau residents who attended public meetings held by Vision 2000.

Gateley said the tax plan succeeded because the projects were clearly spelled out to the voters.

As long as the city continues to spell out how the money will be spent, Gateley hopes taxpayers will support the tax.

"What we started with really worked. We ought to stay with it," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123