LOCAL SALES-TAX REVENUE DROPS

The city of Cape Girardeau has seen a decline in sales-tax revenue while sales-tax growth in Cape Girardeau County has been sluggish.

That concerns city and county budget officials.

The downturn is in sharp contrast to the last four years when the county and the city experienced a healthy growth in sales-tax revenue.

The city's sales-tax revenue increased by 6.1 percent in calender year 1992, 6.18 percent in 1993, 11.38 percent in 1994 and 8.88 percent in 1995.

The county's sales-tax revenue climbed by 5.08 percent in 1992, 7.02 percent in 1993, 10.7 percent in 1994 and 9.19 percent in 1995.

Cape Girardeau city's sales-tax revenue for the past six months is down about 2.1 percent from the same period a year ago, said John Richbourg, city finance director.

The city's current fiscal year began July 1.

The city's 1-cent, general-fund sales tax netted $1.6 million for the city for the first three months of the fiscal year. But that was down more than 2 percent from a year ago, Richbourg said.

City officials had projected sales-tax revenue would grow by 5 percent this fiscal year, which would pump more than $7 million into the general fund.

If the revenue downturn continues at its current pace, the city could wind up with about half a million dollars less than had been projected.

That could force city officials to make some budget cuts, Richbourg said.

The bleak sales-tax picture is also reflected in the half-cent transportation sales tax.

Voters approved the half-cent sales tax for road projects in August 1995. Businesses started collecting the tax Jan. 1.

First-quarter income was $457,000, reflecting a 4.7 percent growth rate in taxable sales.

The city had projected 3 percent annual growth over the next five years. At that pace, the transportation tax would raise about $17 million by the time it expires Dec. 31, 2000.

But in recent months, the transportation tax pot has sprung a leak.

For the first nine months of 1996, the city collected just over $2 million, about $130,000 or nearly 6 percent less than had been anticipated, Richbourg said.

Still, he and other city officials said they don't expect the financial downturn to have any immediate impact on road projects.

Mayor Al Spradling III said the city may be unable to do all of the planned road projects.

But both Spradling and Richbourg said it is too soon to tell if projects scheduled toward the end of the five-year period would be jeopardized.

Richbourg said the revenue downturn could be a short one and have little impact over the five-year life of the transportation tax.

He said he is more concerned about the downturn's impact on the general fund budget for the current fiscal year.

Cape Girardeau County has collected $3.57 million so far this calendar year, which is 2.13 percent more than was netted during the same period in 1995.

"It will be under what we projected," said county Auditor H. Weldon Macke.

Macke had projected about a 5 percent growth in sales-tax revenue.

The state collects the sales-tax money and distributes it to local governments.

Macke said the sales-tax checks received by the county this year have been up one month and down another. "It has kind of been a mixed bag," he said.

The county's budget relies heavily on sales-tax money. But Macke said the less-than-expected sales-tax dollars won't have a major impact on this year's budget.

"We have enough surplus to carry us through," he said. Also, the county typically spends only 80 to 85 percent of its budget, Macke said.

Both Macke and Richbourg can't explain the weak revenue picture with any certainty.

Macke said the sales-tax figures suggest an ailing local economy.

City officials are so concerned they have asked the state to provide detailed accounting of the sales taxes collected.

"There is always the possibility the state has made some sort of error," Richbourg said.