CITIES SHOULD SPEAK UP ON UNWANTED MANDATES

City officials are justified in their dissatisfaction with an evolving government-imposed regulation that will require the expenditure of a good chunk of city revenue, and they should let the government know they are irritated.

The latest in what has become a barrage of new or amended environmental regulations being imposed upon local governments has been handed down by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, an agency with a flair for telling governments and businesses what must be done to clean up the environment, in most cases without the offer of a single penny of federal assistance.

The EPA says the city must reduce the bacteria pathogens in the sludge produced by its waste-water treatment plant that discharges treated sewage into the Mississippi River. City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said the city is required to conduct a study on how to reduce the pathogens if it is to obtain financing for a reduction project through the Missouri Revolving Loan Fund. The deadline for compliance is rapidly approaching.

The study alone will cost the city about $60,000 because it has had to hire an engineering firm to do it; the work will be another $500,000 to $600,000, Fischer said.

We certainly have no quarrel with efforts to clean up the environment, and trust that if the EPA says the pathogens being discharged need to be reduced, they, in fact, do. But these federal mandates to clean up the environment have proven costly to this and a lot of other cities across the land, many of which are having to cut back on expenses because of current economic conditions.

A couple of weeks ago the Cape Girardeau City Council was undecided on how to aptly express to the federal government its irritation over mandates without monetary assistance. Mayor Gene Rhodes suggested the council send a letter to the appropriate agency, but he was unable to get a council consensus. Some council members said they were unsure which agency to complain to; others said they feared a letter would anger the agency with little useful effect.

Councilman David Barklage, a member of the Missouri Municipal League, said the league is aware that cities are upset by the mandates, and a top priority of the league is to stop them without funding. He, however, said rash actions could "burn some bridges" and he didn't "want it to come back on the city."

We fail to see how complaining to anyone in the federal government about its unfunded mandates would bring any further hardship on the city than the mandates already do. City officials not only here but everywhere would be wise to complain, and complain loudly, to anyone in government who will listen.