VOTERS TO DECIDE LIBRARIES, STREETS; JACKSON LIBRARY ISSUE WILL BE DECIDED TUESDAY

JACKSON -- County Clerk Rodney Miller said he isn't expecting a huge voter turnout Tuesday.

But the issue voters decide will have a huge affect on library patrons, no matter how the vote goes.

About 18,000 Cape Girardeau County voters in the Jackson Public Library District and the Riverside Regional Library District will be eligible to vote Tuesday. They will decide whether or not to increase their taxes to pay for a $1.5 million combined library in Jackson City Park.

The new library would be part of Riverside Regional's system, eventually putting the city of Jackson out of the library business. But promoters of the tax issue have stopped short of saying Jackson would be forced to close its library anyway if the issue failed.

"The Jackson Public Library Board is of the opinion that this will work," Board President Terri Tomlin said. "We have not crossed the bridge of what we will do if it doesn't. It will be a whole new ballgame."

The public library's tax base was set as the Jackson city limits in 1965, and district residents are charged 13 cents per $100 assessed valuation to support the library. While use of the public library has grown, its tax base hasn't, so equipment common to many libraries is inaccessible for Jackson Public Library.

In addition, the city plans to sell the current City Hall/Public Library building after offices move to the new Jackson City Hall building later this year. Problems with building design wouldn't allow the overcrowded public library to expand in the current building or move to the new one.

If Jackson Public Library were to close, it would put an additional burden on Riverside. Riverside already is overcrowded, Board President Roland Sander said, and it duplicates books and services offered by the Jackson Public Library.

Sander wouldn't comment on the possible closure of the public library, saying it may be considered a "scare tactic" this close to election.

Instead, he and Tomlin have focused on the positive side of combining libraries.

"This will give us a building that will take us into the 21st century and help us develop the things we want to," Sander said.

Several supporters of the merger have been distributing fliers door-to-door, answering voters' questions. Sander and Tomlin have spoke to several school and civic groups about the plan, garnering support from most of them.

The Jackson Board of Education and Jackson Chamber of Commerce endorsed the merger, and there has been no organized opposition to the plan.

"There are people who disagree with it, and we've tried to find out what they oppose," Tomlin said. "They say the tax will be too high, they don't like the proposed location or they just don't like change."

People in the public library district would see taxes go up 5 cents per $100 assessed valuation, and those in the Riverside district would pay an additional 10 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

Tomlin argued that the tax increase won't be too high for property owners -- even for an expensive house, the increase will be about the cost of large combination pizza.

As for the site, both Sander and Tomlin see the proposed Jackson City Park lot as ideal.

"It's on the main road that goes into Oak Ridge and just a block off the highway going to Fruitland, Pocahontas and Shawneetown," Sander said. "I live in Gordonville, and it's not that much of a difference for me."

He said having a library in the park would be conducive to various outdoor programs, too.

The polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and election judges will hand-count the ballots. The county clerk sent letters to those in the Riverside district who live in Cape Girardeau to tell them they were eligible to vote and where to do so.