Jefferson City seeks to double its size

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Renaissance-style Capitol, with its white limestone walls and high arching dome, was built to project a grand image for the state.

Now the capital city is seeking to boost its image, too -- proposing to double its geographic size and increase its population more than 30 percent in a massive and contentious annexation effort.

Jefferson City's municipal leaders say a bigger city makes for a more prestigious destination, especially for businesses, and means more tax money and government grants to keep the city strong.

Yet a trio of annexation proposals -- seeking to expand the city to the east, southwest and northwest -- appear likely to fail when voters go to the polls Tuesday. Passage requires separate majority votes in the city and in each of the areas to be annexed.

Even city officials acknowledge passage is unlikely in the targeted areas, where hundreds of yellow yard signs proclaim "No Forced Annexation" and where some residents literally heckled city officials during informational meetings last year.

An election loss isn't likely to end the annexation effort, however.

Missouri law allows defeated annexation proposals to be submitted to voters again. The second time, passage requires a two-thirds combined vote -- meaning that a large favorable vote in the city could overwhelm a negative vote in the areas to be annexed. Jefferson City officials say a second election is likely in April.

They are motivated partly by the desire to push the city's population above 50,000. The 2000 census counted just 39,636 people in Jefferson City, ranking it 42nd among the nation's state capitals.

If the three targeted areas are annexed, Jefferson City's population would jump to 52,100, still just the 39th most populous capital in the country.

But the population boost would mean more state money for city roads, as well as more property and sales tax revenues for city operations. And passing the 50,000 threshold would make the city automatically eligible for federal community development grants.

City leaders say the 50,000 threshold also is key to attracting businesses.

Larry Kolb, who owns one of the largest commercial real estate firms in the city, says many manufacturers and national retailers won't even consider a city unless it has 50,000 people. Kolb is leasing a new shopping center whose clients include Old Navy and Pier One Imports.

"It probably took us an extra year to finalize this project, and the main reason for it was convincing these national companies we were a viable city," Kolb said.

"We're just a dot on most of their maps," Kolb said. With annexation, "this makes that dot bigger."

Opponents say the appearance of a bigger metropolitan area is a ruse, but their higher tax burden would be real. The city's own example, based on a family of three in an $80,000 house, shows a family's taxes rise $162 a year.

Annexed residents also would lose some of their freedoms. Most could no longer shoot fireworks on the Fourth of July, for example, or replace a water heater without getting a city permit.

Opponents also fear their fire, police and street services could decline under the control of the city, which has proposed to add personnel but not in proportion to the population or geographic size of the annexed areas.

"It's too much, too fast," said Tom Piper, a state employee who lives one block outside the city limits and is chairman of the Committee Against Forced Annexation. "You look at your capital as a shining example of how things should be done. ... But this sets a bad example."

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On the Net

Jefferson City: www.jeffcitymo.org

Annexation opponents: www.nojcannexation.com