No Cape property tax cut

When Cape Girardeau voters go to the polls in April and decide whether to approve a use tax, the measure will not be accompanied by a cut in property taxes.

Councilman Wayne Bowen proposed an ordinance that would cut general revenue property taxes in the city by 10 percent if voters approved the 2.75 percent use tax.

Proponents of the tax, which targets out-of-state purchases, say it "evens the playing field" for local businesses. Cape Girardeau County also approved a use-tax question to put before voters in April.

Bowen announced his proposal in December, when the council held a special meeting to discuss and make the first vote on whether to place the city use-tax question on the ballot.

At the time of the meeting, Bowen told the Southeast Missourian he considered the tax issue an opportunity to provide relief to taxpayers before asking for renewing other city sales taxes deemed more integral to the budget.

The 10 percent reduction would "recognize that [the city] should do something to scale back tax amounts in an area where we can," he previously said, adding that the city was in "a pretty healthy fiscal situation" so the use tax would not be considered a "critical revenue source."

At the December special meeting, several council members indicated they were not opposed to lowering the property tax, but believed more discussion of the matter was needed. The council ultimately voted to approve placing the use-tax question on the spring ballot and to postpone the first vote of the property-tax ordinance, stating the ordinance was not as time-sensitive.

In order for the ordinance to be effective at the time the use tax is implemented, it would have to be approved before the April 8 election. Including tonight's meeting, the council will gather twice before voters cast their ballots. The second meeting is scheduled for April 7, the night before the election.

Bowen said his proposal is not under consideration by the council at the moment and it is too late to pass the measure before the April election, however, the councilman still is not abandoning the idea.

"The council voted to table the proposed property tax cut, 6-1, at the December special meeting called to consider the use tax," he said in an email to the Southeast Missourian. "If there is a change in sentiment on the council, I'd be interested in bringing forward a property tax reduction in some other format after the April election, especially if the use tax passes."

According to figures provided by city staff, a 10 percent property tax reduction would equal savings of about $6.83 for a person who owns a home with a $100,000 actual value. The reduction would mean a drop of about $160,000 annually in general revenue for the city.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.