Officials question tax money offered for Prop 1 support

~ Cape Girardeau County commissioners said they will give Jackson an extra $25,000 for endorsing the sales tax.

Cape Girardeau County commissioners say additional funding promised the city of Jackson if it endorses the proposed countywide half-cent sales tax is an incentive and not a bribe. But some public officials question the endorsement deal, and some think the incentive offer to Jackson is unfair.

"It's a little awkward for a city to endorse this. I'm not really aware of other public entities endorsing the other's tax issue," said Jackson city administrator Jim Roach.

"Does the city agree the people have the right to vote? Absolutely," he said. "But I'm not going to tell the voters what to do."

The county pays Jackson about $80,000 per year from road and bridge property taxes collected inside the city. The commissioners offered to pay the city an additional 5 percent -- approximately $25,000 -- if Jackson endorses the countywide sales-tax issue.

Commissioners pitched the proposal at a Jackson Board of Aldermen study session meeting last week.

A lawsuit settled last year between the county and Jackson required the county to start giving Jackson 25 percent of the county road and bridge tax revenue it collects from residents inside the city.

If the sales-tax issue passes Aug. 8, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said, the county will continue paying the city the amount property taxes would generate even though the county is not required to. "If that road and bridge tax goes away, then technically we wouldn't have to continue paying Jackson that 25 percent. We didn't think it would be fair to cut that extra funding," Jones said.

The sales tax would also generate additional funding for incorporated towns, he said.

Old Appleton Mayor Kevin Amschler said additional funding will benefit the village but the endorsement proposal should be offered to all cities and towns inside the county.

"Any time you offer to pay a municipality an incentive, it could be construed as a bribe. If they offer it to one town or city, they should offer it across the board," Amschler said. "But I do understand that Jackson is a lot bigger than Old Appleton."

Erie Foster, chairman for the village of Allenville, agrees with Amschler. "If it's 30 percent for them, it should be 30 percent for Allenville," he said.

Jones said the endorsement proposal is not a bribe but an incentive. Commissioner Jay Purcell characterized the extra money for Jackson "as an investment in helping out one of our cities."

The idea of asking a city for its endorsement of the sales-tax issue was copied from a similar situation in Greene County, Mo., Jones said. "The city of Springfield and Greene County worked hand in hand," he said. "The county passed a transportation sales tax by asking the city to help get it passed."

Current Greene County Presiding Commissioner David Coonrod remembers an endorsement deal in the early 1980s but said the county didn't single out one city. "What we did for one, we did for all," said Coonrod, who wasn't presiding commissioner at the time of the deal.

Roach isn't sure how the city will handle the endorsement proposal.

City staff will discuss the issue before the next regular board of aldermen meeting Monday night, Roach said. "The staff may try to come up with a couple of avenues the board could utilize -- such as a position statement -- but ultimately it's going to be up to them," he said.

Nothing regarding the endorsement deal is on the agenda for Monday night's Jackson Board of Aldermen meeting.

Commissioners didn't offer Cape Girardeau the same endorsement incentive but did ask the city council for its help passing Proposition 1. Cape Girardeau Councilwoman Loretta Schneider doesn't think it's fair for the council to take a position. "It's a county issue and an individual citizen issue," Schneider said.

She also wonders why the city of Cape Girardeau wasn't offered an incentive to endorse the tax. "Perhaps we should have been offered the same deal as Jackson."

Unlike Jackson, Cape Girardeau does not receive any share of county road and bridge property taxes. The tax imposed in Cape Girardeau supports the Cape Special Road District, which is not obligated to provide a direct cash payment to the city.

Commissioners did, however, offer an incentive to the road district. Under the state law governing the tax, Cape Girardeau County keeps 20 percent of the money raised. If the tax passes, commissioners have promised to forgo that revenue, giving the Cape Special Road District an extra $289,028 annually to spend.

Jim Philipps, spokesman for the National Association of Counties, said the endorsement deal is not unusual. "It's a negotiation, and sometimes you have to offer those incentives to get issues passed," he said.

Jackson Alderman Joe Bob Baker believes the county deserves an answer to the city position on the tax proposal. "I think they've worked hard, and we need to respond to them," he said.

The road and bridge property tax revenue the city receives must be spent on transportation projects. If the sales tax issue passes, commissioners say, the city can spend the money on other projects.

Jackson officials have been working on a proposal to build another fire station in the city. County Commissioner Jay Purcell said the city could use the funds to pay off bonds for a future fire substation.

Roach said the $100,000 the county would pay Jackson annually isn't enough to fund a fire station. "It wouldn't come close to paying the operational costs," he said.

Jackson officials had been considering asking voters to approve a sales tax for a fire substation in the future but are waiting for the result of the county proposal.

"I'd almost be embarrassed to turn around and ask for another sales tax," said Alderman David Reiminger.

But Reiminger does support the countywide sales-tax issue and believes it would benefit both the county and city.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246