HEARING ON TAX ABATEMENT

Aug. 5 is the date and 7:30 p.m. the time set for a public hearing at Cape Girardeau's city hall on whether to grant tax abatement to a major employer that is considering a Cape Girardeau site on which to re-locate approximately 200 jobs. The jobs would feature a minimum starting salary of $16,000. The employer, which will locate somewhere in Cape's 21-square-mile enterprise zone if it chooses to come here, is eligible for up to 100 percent abatement of real estate taxes for as much as 10 years. City council approval is required to grant the proposed tax break.

Two other Missouri cities are known to be in the running for landing the relocated jobs, which would require construction of a new building. Both these cities have offered the abatement on taxes.

The city would lose out on $6,700 in property taxes annually, and the Cape Girardeau School District would likewise lose tax revenue. Industrial development recruiter Mitch Robinson and Mayor Al Spradling III argue that forgoing these taxes are more than worth the benefits that would accrue from a quality employer's decision to locate here. They claim that while the school district would initially lose money, it would make it up as employees buy homes, invest in other properties and pay taxes.

The hearing on Aug. 5 is taxpayers' opportunity to be heard in this decision-making process. Use it wisely.