Jackson, county headed to court today

The first round of court trials to determine if Cape Girardeau County will have to pay the city of Jackson upward of a half-million dollars in lost road and bridge tax revenue begins today.

A bench trial has been set for 10 a.m. today in Cape Girardeau's 32nd Judicial Court to hear the arguments. Judge Byron D. Luber of Caruthersville has been assigned to hear the case.

The issue centers on a statute that says first-class counties must pay back 25 percent of the special-tax revenue they collect from a city back to that city. One of the county's arguments is that the statute only applies to "special" taxes that require a vote of the people. The amount the county would have to pay the city is roughly $80,000 per year. The county became a first-class county in 1997.