Officials question proposal for county sales-tax increase

A homemade county road plan proposed to the Cape Girardeau County Commission Monday underlined the county's lack of a firm plan for spending a proposed half-cent sales tax.

The failure to provide a detailed proposal with the ballot measure, which will be called Proposition 1 on Aug. 8, is drawing questions and criticism from elected and appointed officials in Jackson and Cape Girardeau. In every successful ballot measure they have proposed, officials from the cities said, they have provided voters with clear promises of what would be accomplished.

In a presentation to the commission, county resident David Seabaugh analyzed the costs of asphalt compared to a "chip seal" method of improving gravel roads.The method employs a layer of dust oil and a "chip seal" of rock and oil. He said the county's 400 miles of roads could be treated with chip seal in less than 10 years with the revenue from the proposed tax, compared to decades of work to complete a paving program.

"We are going to have to look at this," Seabaugh said of the chip seal proposal. "We are going to have to think about this. People are going to campaign against this unless they have a concrete plan that addresses their needs. The bottom line is that it is going to take almost 70 years to get across the county" with asphalt.

Commissioners are asking voters to approve a permanent half-cent sales increase. The tax would raise about $5.9 million in the first year.

In exchange, property owners would no longer pay the road and bridge property taxes. After replacing the property taxes, the new revenue, about $3.1 million, would be used to accelerate the county's current road paving program and expand the sheriff's department.

Since voting to seek the tax increase May 30, commissioners have discussed which roads would be paved first and the rules for putting a road on the list for paving. In a public hearing on June 19, county residents made strong demands for a dust control program and commissioners have responded by promising to include such a program in their final plan.

But the lack of firm plans could endanger the vote, Cape Girardeau city leaders said. They won passage of sales tax measures in 2004 and 2005, one for fire protection and one for road improvements.

In both cases, city manager Doug Leslie said, the city learned from past mistakes. The road tax, he noted, was first tried in the 1980s and failed for a lack of specifics.

"It was brought back in the 1990s with a specific list of projects and how the money would be utilized and with a time frame for success," he said. "When it was successfully done, it was re-approved."

The same was true for the city's fire protection tax, approved by votes in 2004. The proposal wasn't put before city voters until a comprehensive plan for spending the money was in place that included a new fire station, new equipment and increased pay for firefighters and police.

In both cases, he said, "it was a fairly lengthy process to arrive at an acceptable list of priorities."

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson said he, too, believes the county proposal doesn't have enough specifics to convince voters. "I am in no way questioning the merits of the tax. These gentlemen are my friends. But I know what is required to be successful in a tax initiative."

The city of Jackson is considering a fire and public safety proposal, administrator Jim Roach said. The creation of a spending plan, he said, would look similar to the effort made by Cape Girardeau before its recent tax initiatives.

"We would be finding out what the public wants rather than telling them what they are going to get," he said. "We are supposed to be listening to the public."

County commissioners will be making an all-out effort to explain their proposal during the six weeks between now and the Aug. 8 election. They have more than a dozen presentations before civic groups scheduled and plan several more townhall meetings in communities across the county.

Commissioner Jay Purcell said Monday that he realizes that the county proposal is short on specifics. "We will have some kind of road plan and we will stick to that," he said. "I have always kept my word and that is how I got where I am."

The biggest questions surrounding the county's road proposal involve the rules for placement on the list of roads to be improved and whether asphalt or the chip seal method should be the top method.

In his presentation, Seabaugh proposed an outline calling for a clear, fair road plan that "covers the most roads possible in the shortest amount of time." In the details of the proposal, he called for giving projects that make roads safer a top priority and asked that the county move ahead on roads even in cases where a few landowners disapprove.

Under the county's current rules, property owners along a road must all agree before the county will consider adding it to the paving schedule.

"It takes a starting point," Seabaugh said. "I think you are going in the right direction but the people have to believe you are going in the right direction."

After the meeting Purcell and Commissioner Larry Bock defended the commission's decision to move ahead with the August vote. Postponing the measure, they said, would have put their proposal on the November ballot with a crowd of state issues or pitted it against school board issues in April.

"We have acknowledged we have made mistakes," Purcell said. "There is no way to go back and rewind the clock."

During his presentation, Seabaugh also presented a list of anonymous comments that he said reflected opinions about the tax proposal. The comments were almost universally negative

The county does have a plan, Bock said. "The plan is simple. The money going to the county road system is going to improve and pave county roads."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126