Team preparing presentation on four Cape tax proposals

The Invest 4 Cape team, a mix of Cape Girardeau city employees and department heads aimed at educating the public on the city's current tax issues, will make a rough-draft presentation tonight on the four tax and fee-increase proposals that voters will decide on April 8.

The 15- to 20-minute PowerPoint show will take place at the council's 5 p.m. study session. The Cape Girardeau Citizens Finance Task Force has been invited to see the presentation along with the council.

The task force, a group of residents who are not city employees, came up with the four-tax proposal which was later approved by the council.

The presentation is one of two that has been put together by the city.

The first presentation shows the city's progress in 2002 and the overall services provided by the city.

The second is the one that will be shown tonight and will be given its first formal showing Friday at the Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee.

Tracey Glenn, the public information officer with the city, was still putting the finishing touches on the presentation last week.

"We have been working on this particular presentation a month," she said. "That includes a lot of discussion about what we're putting into it. It's very confusing. There's four different things that are all voted on individually. We want people to understand the issues."

Glenn said the presentation explains topics like rising personnel and equipment maintenance costs, why there is a need for more revenue, how much the city needs and what the proposal is asking for. It will include what will happen all four issues pass and what will happen if only some of them pass.

Don Fisher, a Cape Girardeau resident and one of the more active and vocal members of the task force, said he hopes the presentation will show exactly what this will cost the average household. City officials have said the four taxes will amount to less than $100 per year.

"They'll have to be concise, to the point, hit the highlights and leave nothing to the imagination," Fisher added. "They need to show the need and take the emotion out of it. I've been in other towns that were in the same situation and postponing things will only make matters worse, not better. If everyone believes in Cape, they'll see the value of voting yes."

Councilman Charlie Herbst said he understands the difficulty of putting together a 15-minute presentation. He has been dealing with the city's financial issues since he was elected in April. Some of the other council members have been wrestling with the issue longer that that.

"I know some of the things I'll be looking for is straightforward information," Herbst said. "I hope it's as clear as we can get, and I'm hoping it will convey the message of our priorities, what will be funded first and in what order. I hope there might be some brief slides that explain that if there aren't additional revenues through the election that we will have to continue to scrutinize purchases that will affect everyday services."

35 showings scheduled

Glenn says the city is looking for different groups to share the presentations with.

"I think it's going really well," said Glenn. "We've got 35 presentations scheduled at the moment. The first one, we want people to know what we've been doing and with the second one, we want people to understand the issues. A lot of people think there will be a question on the ballot specifically about the water park. That isn't on there."

What will be on the ballot are four tax or fee proposals:

A quarter-cent sales tax increase that will be earmarked for the fire department but will free up money in the general fund for other purposes.

A new 10-cent property tax increase that will begin when the current 10-cent property tax expires. The current property tax is going to pay off the Show Me Center bonds and will sunset sometime next year.

A new stormwater utility fee, based on square feet of a household's footprint, that will go toward a prioritized list of 14 stormwater projects. The fee will generally run from $3.50 to $5.25 per month.

A new 2 percent use tax, which will tax out-of-state annual purchases of $2,000 or more.

If some of the tax issues pass, the city will pay for a prioritized list of needs as it can afford them, city officials say.

That list begins with about $1 million per year in operating expenses like new public safety and maintenance positions, airport matching grant money and wage adjustments; equipment replacement; stormwater projects and three major projects -- a new $1.8 million fire station No. 3, a $5 million police station renovation and addition and a new $6.6 million family water park.

For more information about scheduling a presentation, call Glenn at 335-8556.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127