SCOTT CITY COUNCIL WILL FIELD QUESTIONS ON TAX

SCOTT CITY -- In order to promote understanding of why the city has asked for a half-cent increase in the city sales tax rate, the Scott City Council decided to set aside it's March study sessions to hold public question-and-answer sessions about the tax.

Council members agreed to the move at their Monday meeting, under the suggestion of Mayor Shirley Young.

Councilman Jim Cauble said street committee reports will be presented at the sessions, which will be held March 4 and 18, from 7-8 p.m.

"People will be able to see what street have been evaluated and which ones need repair," he said.

The half-cent sales tax rate proposal was approved by the council Feb. 4. Voters will decide the issue April 4.

The ordinance limits the funds raised by the tax to be used only for street repairs and improvements in the city. The tax has a five-year limit, and would generate approximately $100,000 a year. It would put the city's overall sales tax rate at 6.225 cents.

Setting aside time for the public to ask questions about the tax is a way to remedy confusion over the need for the tax, Young said.

The mayor said since the city lost $45,000 to $50,000 in federal revenue sharing annually, it has not been able to supply adequate funding for street repairs. Revenue sharing was lost in the 1980s, she said.

"We had always put that money aside for street repairs," the mayor said. "The same year we lost that, (the city's) utility bills doubled. We can see there are major street repairs coming that we won't be able to fund from the regular budget."

The city's 1991 fiscal budget sets aside $20,000 for street resurfacing, a figure Cauble called grossly inadequate.

"Four thousand feet is about what you could pave with that," he said. "And $20,000 is too little to get a worthwhile bid. It just doesn't go very far."

Young said if the tax hike is approved by voters, the city could begin contracting work to be done on streets by late summer. The tax would go into effect July 1.

"It's possible we could calculate how much money we would receive from the tax per month and take bids on work late this summer," she said.

In other business, the city accepted a bid of $29,137 from Insurance Associates of Cape Girardeau for property and casualty insurance for the city.

Also approved was a request by David Reinagel to rezone his property on Oak Street from agricultural to multi-family residential. The land was annexed by the city Jan. 21. Plans are for three, two-story apartment buildings containing eight apartments each to be built on the property, Young said.