The Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved a 3-cent increase during a tax rate hearing held Monday.

People living in the school district will be taxed $3.41 per $100 assessed valuation. The levy includes a total of $3.11 for the district's operating tax rate. The operating tax rate includes a $2.85 levy for the general fund, which covers most operational costs, and 26 cents for the capital projects fund.

The total levy also collects 35 cents to cover the debt service fund, which covers the costs for bonds sold by the school district.

Board members approved a voluntary rollback of 5 cents each in the general and debt service funds to keep the tax rates equivalent to what voters were promised when they approved a $14 bond issue in April 1997.

Dr. Steve Del Vecchio, district business manager, said taxpayers shouldn't see any difference in their overall tax payments because the local increase will balance a similar decrease in state-assessed utilities taxes. The district will receive less money from the state in utilities revenue because it is projecting a decrease in enrollment, while most other districts in the county are growing, he said.

Cape Girardeau's first-day enrollment showed a decline of about 80 students. That figure is expected to increase before a state head count is recorded Sept. 23, but an overall decline is still projected.

In other business, board members authorized financial representatives to refinance bonds in order to take advantage of record-low interest rates. By approving the measure, the school district will save some $285,000 in interest payments over the life of the bonds, with an additional savings of about $130,000 after being reimbursed by the state for selling costs next July.

An $11,000 budget was also approved for development of a teachers' mentor program. The program will pair veteran teachers in the district with new and beginning teachers in an effort to make their transition into Cape Girardeau schools easier.

Missouri school districts are required to spend 1 percent of their operating budgets in professional development for teachers. The district's professional development committee will set aside about $4,000 of that percentage on the mentor program. The additional funding will be included in the district's budget.

"I think it's a very good idea," said board member Dr. Bob Fox. "We lost a lot of great faculty members this year. Whether they're beginning teachers or not, they still need to be familiarized with the district."

Also approved during the meeting were the development of an after-school detention program for Louis J. Schultz School and the employment of two teachers.