Two commissioners hope road plan helps tax vote

~ The third commissioner said a five-year schedule could create problems.

Two Cape Girardeau County commissioners believe creating a plan for paving county roads will help encourage voters to pass a half-cent sales tax increase in August. But the other commissioner believes a road plan may cause long-term problems for the commission.

On Thursday, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and Commissioner Jay Purcell asked the highway department superintendent to prepare a five-year road paving plan based on current revenue and an accelerated plan using additional revenue the sales tax would generate. The plans will be presented at a regular commission meeting on June 8.

Purcell had originally asked highway department superintendent Scott Bechtold to present a plan at this week's meeting. Instead, Bechtold delivered the commissioners a list of easements the highway department has received for more than 50 miles of the 400-plus county roads -- which is what Commissioner Larry Bock asked he provide.

"That's not what I asked for," Purcell said at the meeting. "There is no reason why we can't say what roads will be paved in a five-year plan. That sales tax will go down in flames if we do not put out a long-term plan of what roads are going to be paved," he said.

Bechtold said he misunderstood what Purcell wanted him to prepare for the meeting.

The commission voted last week to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the August ballot. If the tax passes, the commission will eliminate the road and bridge property tax. The Cape Special Road District property tax will also be eliminated.

Commissioners estimate the sales tax would generate funding to replace both property taxes and provide an additional estimated $1.5 million for paving county roads. Approximately five miles of county roads are paved each year. If voters approve the sales tax, the county would be able to pave 10 to 12 miles a year.

Each year the county considers several factors when it schedules its paving program for the following year. The property owner must first petition the county and donate easements. The county also considers safety, traffic counts, property owners' monetary contributions for the improvement and how long a road has been on the waiting list.

But no long-term paving plan has ever been created by commissioners -- which is what Purcell and Jones believe needs to be done.

Bock disagrees. He believes creating a long-term schedule of roads to be paved will cause problems.

"There are too many variables to say which roads get paved first," Bock said. "Things can change, and one road might get busier than one -- meaning that road will move ahead of the next. I'd rather do it year by year than make a list," he said.

Purcell said establishing a list will eliminate misconceptions about the county commission.

"The citizens do not trust their elected representatives. We have to commit to a list and stick by it to build faith and credibility," he said.

Voters in Cape Girardeau and Jackson have passed transportation taxes, and Jones contributes that to both cities identifying specific road plans.

"It may not make everyone happy, but by gosh, those taxes were passed," he said.

The county sometimes has problems collecting easements from residents on county roads. If one resident won't donate an easement, that road generally won't be considered for paving.

"We try not to schedule a road until we have all the easements prepared," Bechtold said.

Bock said when a road is scheduled for paving, residents may be required to move a fence on their property or build a new one. Some people aren't interested in having a paved road, he said.

On Monday, the commissioners will approve a list of county roads to be paved scheduled for 2007.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246