JACKSON ALSO CONSIDERS SCHOOL TAX INCREASE

The Jackson School District administration's surprise announcement that it might seek a tax increase in August -- made just a few weeks before the deadline to put the issue on the ballot -- means voters in both Jackson and Cape Girardeau could be voting on tax issues that involve waiving a state-mandated rollback of local levies.

Much depends on what Jackson taxpayers have to say at a 7 p.m. Monday public meeting in the Jackson Middle School cafeteria. The school board president, T. Wayne Lewis, says to expect the board's support for an August ballot issue if the public supports it. The school board will vote at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The Jackson district is in a financial bind. Two years of deficit spending have cut into the reserves, and accountants expect a $150,000 shortfall when the fiscal year ends June 30.

Administrators want a Proposition C waiver. Proposition C is a statewide, 1-cent sales tax for education established by voters in 1983. Districts were required to roll back local levies to offset half the sales-tax revenue, but in 1993 they were allowed to restore local levies with voter approval.

And that voter approval isn't easy. The issue, which would mean a 25-cent tax increase for each $100 of assessed valuation, failed twice at the polls last year. The money would be used to cover increases in gas costs and utility bills plus hire staff for Jackson's growing school population.

Meanwhile, the Cape Girardeau School District wants a 58-cent increase in its school levy. The proposal, as it stands now, would take the total district levy to $3.99 from $3.41.

The idea is to generate $19 million over the next five years, primarily to bump teachers' salaries up to the level of the rest of the area and state, but for other things too.

The district is seeing its biggest building and renovation boom in decades, and all of this new space must be maintained.

Cape Girardeau voters will be asked for a 49-cent increase in the levy, but it's really 58 cents because they would lose 9 cents of the Proposition C tax rollback.

Cape Girardeau administrators have done an admirable job of educating the public on the issue. Teachers are asking poll partners to promise to vote in favor of the issue. The teachers also funded promotional efforts out of their own salaries.

Jackson is a little slow out of the gate. The deadline for putting anything on the Aug. 7 ballot is May 29, and Monday's meeting is the first public outreach effort.

It is incumbent upon Jackson voters to educate themselves about the issue by attending the meeting.