VOTER EDUCATION IS KEY TO CAMPUS PLAN

Now that the Cape Girardeau City Council has put a tax proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot to generate funds for Southeast Missouri State University's proposed River Campus, there is much to be done to inform city voters about the project, the funding plan and the expected long-term benefits.

The proposed River Campus would be developed at the former St. Vincent's Seminary on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The campus would become a School for the Visual and Performing Arts, combining the university's music, theater, art and dance programs.

The cost of renovating the existing St. Vincent's buildings, which have a great deal of historic value in the community, and to build the additional facilities that would be needed for the campus is currently estimated at $36.6 million.

In addition to classroom facilities, the River Campus would have a 1,000-seat performing arts center, other performance and rehearsal space and space for a museum. All of the facilities, of course, would take advantage of the river view extending north and south along the Mississippi.

The tax plan that will be on the ballot Nov. 3 is a compromise worked out by university and city officials and representatives of the hotel-motel industry here. It is a more equitable plan than originally proposed, and the plan includes options for ending the tax provisions if, for some reason, all of the River Campus funding cannot be secured from other sources, primarily private donations and state appropriations.

The plan calls for increasing the 3 percent hotel-motel tax to 4 percent rather than doubling it as originally proposed. And the tax would be extended beyond its current expiration in 2004 to 2030. The city's 1 percent restaurant tax also would be extended to 2030, but it would remain at 1 percent.

The university will ask the Legislature for $17.8 million for the campus. If the state doesn't make that appropriation by 2001, the local taxes, if approved by voters, would be nullified.

Another change in the plan is the cost sharing between private donors and revenue from the proposed hotel-motel and restaurant taxes. Under the plan approved by the City Council, there will be equal sharing of $8.9 million each.

What remains over the coming weeks leading up to the first Tuesday in November is for the university to make its case to voters. Why a separate campus? What is the rationale for a campus devoted to the arts? Why is the city being asked to help fund the campus? What long-term benefits are there to the city, the region and the state? How will the downtown area be affected? How are the logistical needs of students traveling between the River Campus and the main campus going to be met? Why should Cape Girardeau voters endorse this plan?

All of these issues, and more, will be discussed at length. It will be important for voters to take advantage of opportunities to become informed and make a good decision on Nov. 3.