Cape begins education process on tax issues

Cape Girardeau's mayor, Jay Knudtson, and city manager, Mike Miller, took their tax show on the road officially for the first time Friday, presenting a PowerPoint-assisted program on what four separate tax issues would do for the community. The audience was the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, and the event was First Friday Coffee.

Explaining the issues is no easy task. There are four separate issues -- one of them a tax relatively few have ever paid -- that will be on the ballot. And there are more than four purposes. Knudtson and Miller hoped to keep the program to an interest-holding 15 minutes, but a thorough overview takes about half an hour.

As of last week, 36 presentations to various groups had been planned, but there's still time to call City Hall and get a program scheduled. The vote on the four issues will be April 8, which is the same day voters will choose school board members and, in most municipalities other than Cape Girardeau, city officials as well.

Now is the time to become informed about the four issues and what they propose to accomplish. The issues combined would have a huge impact on Cape Girardeau's future.

They are:

A quarter-cent city sales tax that will be earmarked for the fire department, which is struggling with an outdated Fire Station No. 3 and other problems. A nearly equal amount of general revenue as what would be generated from this additional sales tax would be diverted out of the fire department's existing budget to the general fund for various other operational expenses.

A 10-cent property tax that would begin in 2004, the day after the current 10-cent property tax for the Show Me Center bonds expires.

A new stormwater utility fee based on the square footage of the footprint (the area that prevents rainwater from going into the ground)â of each home or business. The fee would run between $3.50 and $5.25 a month for the average Cape Girardeau household and would be used for a prioritized list of 14 stormwater projects.

A new 2 percent use tax, which would tax out-of-state annual purchases of $2,000 or more from catalogs and Internet sites.

In addition to addressing the stormwater problems, the tax measures would -- in this order, based on what voters approve in April -- pay operating expenses, replace equipment, build a new $1.8 million fire station, complete a $5 million expansion and renovation of the police department and build a $6.5 million water park to encourage future economic development.

The measures combined would cost the average Cape Girardeau family less than $100 a year, the mayor and city manager estimate.

With the lingering recession, any tax issue can be a tough sell. However, Cape Girardeau voters have shown they will support measures they believe in no matter what the state of the economy is.

For that reason, it is important for residents to go to these presentations, ask questions and receive answers so they can form an accurate opinion and go to the polls April 8.