INFORMATION SHEETS PREPARED; SENIOR TAX ISSUE VIEWED

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A proposed five-cent property tax to be voted on April 2 to fund services for the elderly in Cape Girardeau County would cost the owner of a $40,000 home about $4 a year.

The information was released Monday by the Cape Girardeau Council on Aging, a proponent of the tax. The council does business as the Cape Nutrition Center.

At a nutrition center membership meeting Monday, it was stressed that the public needs to be made more aware of what services the tax would fund, as well as what it would cost voters. Fact sheets outlining the services to be funded are scheduled to be distributed this week throughout Cape Girardeau County.

"We hope to place the fact sheets in locations visited by voters," said Russel Faust, president of Cape Girardeau Council on Aging. "These will include banks, hospitals, stores, pharmacies, doctors' offices, churches, and wherever else interested voters might obtain a sheet."

The tax would be levied on each $100 of assessed valuation and is expected to bring in approximately $220,000 in revenue, the council said. The tax would only fund services for persons 60 years of age or older, said the council, and it could not be used for building purposes.

For property owners, the proposal calls for an annual tax of $3.80 on a $40,000 home with an assessed valuation of $7,600. A $60,000 home with an assessed valuation of $11,400 would be taxed at $5.70 per year.

The council reported the tax could be used for:

The expansion of services at nutrition centers, including more home-delivered meals to shut-ins.

An increase in transportation for medical care and shopping, particularly to elderly people in the county's outlying areas.

The expansion of personal care and respite and home-work services for the frail elderly.

More money for adult care services.

Any organization or agency providing services to the elderly in Cape Girardeau County could apply for funding from the tax, the council reported. Funding decisions would be made by a board of directors.

The council reported that Cape Girardeau County commissioners would appoint seven directors to represent all areas of the county.