TIF, development may be related

To the editor;

Scott Moyers and Mark Bliss had articles of interest in your Oct. 25 edition. The first, appearing on the first page, related a significant decline in commercial projects during 2005 as compared to 2004. The second, appearing on Page 4, reported that Cape Girardeau city officials in a meeting with the Cape Girardeau School Board committed to using tax-increment financing "judiciously" because of the program's perceived impact upon the school district tax base.

These may be cause-and-effect stories. If the city feels compelled to expedite the pace of development in order to expand its tax base, it should not allow a false premise such as the perceived detriment to school district tax revenue to dissuade the council from entertaining more TIF proposals. Said another way, if the citizens of Cape Girardeau are satisfied with the pace of commercial development in the city, no further incentives are required. On the other hand, if the citizens want to move at a faster pace and bring more sales-tax dollars to town rather than losing them to St. Louis, Memphis and Paducah, perhaps TIF deserves a new look.

BILL GREEN, Sikeston, Mo.