CAPE TAX HIKE PASSES IN SQUEAKER

It was close, but Cape Girardeau school officials saw their third straight funding measure approved by voters during Tuesday's special election.

Nearly 51 percent of voters approved a 58-cent tax increase by a 1,963-1,890 vote. A simple majority was needed to pass the measure.

Voters will pay $3.99 per $100 assessed valuation on all personal property beginning this year.

Schools superintendent Dan Steska and about 50 supporters had all the trimmings for a party in the Central Junior High School library Tuesday night while they awaited the election results. They had a comfortable lead early in the evening, but a string of poor results in the final three precincts pulled the election within 1 percentage point of failure.

"We had planned an election watch, and we knew it'd either be a celebration or a wake," Steska said. "There were many more no votes than I had anticipated, so I appreciate the vision people had for the future."

Only 15.32 percent of registered voters in the Cape Girardeau School District participated in the election.

To meet legal mandates, the wording of the ballot proposal requested a 49-cent increase over the current tax-rate ceiling, which is adjusted annually by the state auditor's office to allow growth for inflation.

However, the actual increase was 9 cents more, or 58 cents in all.

The 9-cent difference between the ballot wording and the actual levy is due to a related increase in the debt service levy and a cut in the amount of tax rollback the district takes.

Steska said he doesn't believe voters were confused by the requested and actual increases.

Five-year plan

The proposal is expected to bring in $19.1 million over the next five years. The amount would just cover increased operating expenses caused by building expansion and new construction, installation of air conditioning at the existing high school and auditorium, districtwide technology maintenance, and increases to make staff salaries competitive with surrounding districts.

Steska said the bulk of the increased funding -- $10.2 million -- would be used to increase staff salaries over a three-year period. Teachers' salaries currently fall about $2,600 below local averages and about $4,600 below state averages, he said, and salaries for cooks, custodians and other staff are similarly low.

Supporters of the measure said they wanted to complete facilities upgrades launched four years ago and improve the district's ability to operate.

Ray Pensel, a retired teacher, said he voted for the increase because "the facilities are needed."

Jane Womack, a teacher at Central High School, said she voted for the proposal because she can't stand to think about going back to that building with no air conditioning.

"I have sisters in Memphis and Farmington, and they can't believe that I work in a non-air-conditioned building," she said.

Steska said the success of the measure was due largely to a grass-roots campaign in which staff and other campaigners convinced "poll partners" to support the measure.

Sue Case was a poll partner for her daughter, who teaches in the district.

"I was getting calls -- Mom, don't forget to vote. I'm a teacher now,'" she said.

Remodeling projects

Steska said the tax increase completes a long-range plan created by the community in 1996 for improving the district.

The plan, which included major remodeling projects at every school and construction of an elementary school, high school and Career and Technology Center, raised over $22 million with two bond issues approved in 1997 and 2000.

Washington and May Greene schools were closed under the plan due to their age. Louis J. Schultz, now the district's oldest school, will close next fall after the new high school opens.

Grade levels will be reconfigured throughout the district, with each of the elementary schools housing kindergarten through fourth grades. The current Central Junior High School will operate as a center for fifth and sixth grades, and the current high school will house seventh and eighth grades.

Staff writer Beth Lewis contributed to this report.