TTF vote coming; stay informed

Later this summer, voters will be asked to approve another transportation sales tax for the city of Cape Girardeau.

There have been complaints about the number of taxes that are consistently put on ballots for Cape Girardeau voters.

Part of that is attributable to the city's response to voters' wishes to have taxes that sunset. As taxes sunset, they are rolled out again for voter approval. This is a good way to hold governments accountable. It's up to voters to say whether the tax is worth extending, and it's up to the city to express the need for such taxes.

It's too early to endorse the transportation trust fund 5, as it is called. The city hasn't completed a list of projects, and hasn't laid out the plan yet, though it already has sought and received a good deal of community input.

In our view, the TTF taxes have been a huge success in the first four installments. The city has poured roughly $80 million into its streets infrastructure, improving major arteries and creating new roads that have opened up new development. The city has checked off all of the projects promised to voters.

The next installment may put more funds into repairs and less on new projects.

Again, it's still early in the TTF process, and much too early to say whether it's worth supporting.

But it is important for voters to stay involved and informed on the process as the city makes its plans known.