Transportation sales tax vital, officials say

Cape Girardeau roadways, current and future, relying on sales tax extension.

Cape Girardeau's transportation sales tax is necessary when it comes to fixing city streets and building new ones, city officials say.

Without it, the city would be hard-pressed just to maintain existing streets, much less build new ones to serve growing residential and commercial areas.

City officials want voters to extend the half-cent sales tax for another five years. The issue, Transportation Trust Fund 3, or TTF3, is the only measure on the Aug. 2 ballot in Cape Girardeau. A simple majority is needed for passage. Less than two weeks before the election, there's been no organized opposition.

But city officials aren't taking anything for granted. They're planning to send out an informational mailing to city residents.

Mayor Jay Knudtson said the public often focuses on the major street projects that the tax funds. But the city also relies on the tax to fund much of the street maintenance work, he said.

"If it doesn't pass, we would not have the cash flow to even maintain the roads that we currently are doing," Knudtson said.

The half-cent sales tax would generate an estimated $20.3 million for road and sidewalk improvements over the next five years, including $5.6 million to pave and repair existing streets and sidewalks.

The city plans to resurface parts of William Street and Lexington Avenue with an asphalt overlay as part of that paving work.

The sales tax also is important for continued economic growth, the mayor said.

Without the tax, the city couldn't afford to build new roads. Without new streets, the city would find it hard to attract new businesses, Knudtson said.

The transportation sales tax also is a selling point to retailers considering building stores in Cape Girardeau. Knudtson said businesses want well-paved streets to draw shoppers.

Business growth also generates increased sales tax revenue. The city depends on sales tax revenue to fund many of its operations.

"If we can't provide a growing tax base through sales, we will without a doubt become a very stagnant community," Knudtson said.

The city has levied the half-cent sales tax since 1995. Voters renewed the tax for five years in 2000.

If voters next month approve the tax measure, the city will continue to collect the tax through Dec. 31, 2010.

Approval of the measure won't mean an added tax burden, supports say.

"It's not a tax increase," said Skip Smallwood, who chairs the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission.

Voters are being asked to extend a tax paid by all consumers who shop in the city, he said.

Planning and zoning commissioners helped draw up the list of projects that would be funded with the tax extension. The city council approved the tax plan and the list of projects.

In addition to general maintenance projects, the plan earmarks $11.9 million to construct nine major street projects. Another $2.79 million would be placed in reserve to cover any higher-than-expected construction costs.

The list of projects includes:

* Constructing LaSalle Avenue from the planned new East Main Street interchange at Interstate 55 to Route W.

* Widening sections of Mount Auburn Road between Independence and Kingshighway and installing traffic signals at the busy Hopper Road intersection.

* Widening Bloomfield Road from Stonebridge Drive to Benton Hill Road, including the Benton Hill Road intersection.

* Constructing Armstrong Drive from Siemers Drive to Route K.

* Widening and improving sections of Sprigg Street from Highway 74 to William Street.

* Improving Bend Road, Mason Street and Main Street.

* Constructing Vantage Drive from Kingshighway to Scenic Drive.

* Improving the Kingshighway intersection at Arena Park.

* Extending Fountain Street from Morgan Oak Street to William Street.

Three of the projects -- LaSalle Avenue, Bloomfield Road and Armstrong Drive -- are in areas that currently are outside the Cape Girardeau city limits.

City officials expect most if not all of those areas eventually will be annexed.

The city already is planning for annexation of the LaSalle Avenue area which is to the north and west of the existing city limits. Part of the agreement worked out between local governments concerning the East Main Street interchange project clears the way for Cape Girardeau to annex land east of Interstate 55 and along the LaSalle Avenue route, Knudtson said.

The area along Armstrong Drive is expected to be annexed into the city as development expands west of the Siemers Drive commercial area.

Bloomfield Road, from Stonebridge Drive to Benton Hill Road, currently is outside the city limits. But Knudtson said Dalhousie Golf Course, which is reached by that road, already has been annexed into the city limits.

It's a heavily traveled road that needs to be widened even if some areas long the road are outside the city limits, he said.

Such improvements encourage voluntary annexation, Knudtson said.

"It's not like we are asking citizens to go out and approve road improvements in a vast wasteland where you can't connect the dots," he said.

The sales tax is paid by all shoppers in the city, not just Cape Girardeau residents, he said.

It makes sense to fund projects that will improve transportation into and out of the city, Knudtson said.

Planning and zoning commissioner Harry Rediger said much of the street work -- like the Armstrong Drive project -- should spur even more development.

"We played catch-up for the past 10 years," he said. TTF3 provides a chance to get ahead of commercial and residential development, Rediger said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123