TAX: SOUTHEAST READIES FOR CAMPAIGN

Southeast Missouri State University officials are organizing an intensive local campaign to amass support in November for Proposition B, a tax increase package to fund Missouri education needs.

About 40 Southeast administration, faculty and staff representatives met Tuesday to establish various committees to work toward passage of the estimated $385 million tax proposal.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast, told the group that at least 500,000 "yes" votes likely will be required to pass Proposition B.

The university hopes to gain 4,500 votes by Southeast students for the measure.

He said informing voters of higher education's need for more funding will be one of the "most important tasks" the university will perform during the decade.

Wallhausen said the tax package could result in an additional $7 million to $11 million annually for Southeast.

"After withholding, our allocation this year was about $29 million, so $7-$11 million more is a very significant potential increase in not just funding, but in the services we can provide to our constituents," he said.

Wallhausen asked the various employee groups on campus to adopt formal endorsements of Proposition B and to work through campus committees to register voters and promote passage of the tax increase.

Southeast President Kala Stroup said Proposition B represents a unique opportunity for Missourians to improve education in the state.

"It's a once in at least a decade and perhaps a lifetime opportunity," Stroup said. "What isn't understood in the wider public is if we don't get additional funding, we will have to cut back across the state in higher education.

"That would be a great step backward for the state of Missouri," she added. "It's difficult to deliver quality education given the resources currently available."

Wallhausen said Proposition B shouldn't be looked at only as a tax increase. He said the ballot measure contains significant reforms, with tax revenue earmarked specifically for education improvements.

Voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to approve the proposal that was passed in the final minutes of the 1991 legislature that ended May 17.

The tax plan was hammered out during several days and nights of closed-door sessions involving Gov. John Ashcroft, Senate President Pro Tem James Mathewson and Speaker of the House Bob Griffin.

The package would provide a total of $190 million for public schools and an equal amount for higher education with $5 million for job training and development.

It would increase taxes on corporate and personal incomes, sales and cigarettes, along with tobacco products such as cigars and snuff, which now are untaxed.

Wallhausen said the sales tax increase is expected to cost a taxpayer with a $30,000 annual income about $5 a month. He also said the personal income tax hike would only affect those with individual income exceeding $45,000 or family income above $90,000.

The cigarette tax is expected to cost the average smoker an additional 5 cents per day, and the corporate income tax rate would remain at the current temporary rate of 6.5 percent. There is a 20-year sunset on the tax.

Wallhausen said one important benefit of the tax increase would be additional revenue for capital improvements and maintenance. The legislature also is expected to approve a $35 million bond issue to further fund capital improvements.

Wallhausen said the state this year allocated only $85,000 for Southeast's capital and maintenance costs, which exceed seven figures annually.

"Proposition B would give a floor of $700,000 each year to Southeast plus the additional funds from the bond issue," Wallhausen said.

He said the additional $11 million the tax could generate annually for Southeast represents a 33 percent increase in funding. The assistant to the president also said part of the additional funds would be earmarked for salaries.

"We know that to maintain quality is as important as to improve quality," Wallhausen said. "If we can't maintain the quality of our faculty and staff through compensation, we can't expect to improve."

He said a group called Missourians for Quality Education will spearhead an intensive six-week campaign prior to the election in November.

Locally, six committees have been formed to:

register students and faculty and urge them to vote for the measure;

promote the tax as crucial to the state's economic health;

personally contact civic clubs and individuals to explain the proposal;

and solicit campaign donations from various businesses and individuals.

A network of state campaign committees will pass on strategies and recommendation to local corresponding campus committees, Wallhausen said.