CARNAHAN PROPOSES VO-TECH SCHOOL FUNDS; CAPE SCHOOL DISTRICT WOULD GET $3.1 MILLION

Gov. Mel Carnahan's proposed Missouri budget includes $3.15 million for half the cost of a new vocational-technical school in Cape Girardeau.

The governor announced his proposed budget Wednesday as part of his State of the State address in Jefferson City.

The money would help construct a 90,000-square-foot vocational-technical school to serve the area. State funding would be contingent upon approval of a bond issue by Cape Girardeau School District voters.

"It means a $3.1 million tax savings for people in Cape Girardeau," Dr. Dan Tallent, Cape Girardeau schools superintendent, said of the proposed funding. He said the promise of $3.1 million in state money should be an incentive for passage of the local bond issue.

Voters will be asked April 1 to approve the $14 million bond issue as part of a school district master plan. The bond issue would fund construction of the vocational-technical school and an elementary school, as well as provide money to renovate school buildings.

Tallent said the bond issue proposal remains unchanged despite the governor including the $3.15 million in his proposed budget. Tallent explained that the state budget won't be approved by the Missouri General Assembly until May.

If the $3.15 million isn't included in the final version of the state budget, the entire vocational-technical school project could be in jeopardy, he said.

Taxpayers would realize the savings down the road, he said. With the additional money, the district could ask for fewer bonds in a planned second phase of construction or it could pay less in interest by completing projects more quickly.

Inclusion in the governor's budget marks the second hurdle the project has passed at the state level. In December it was included in the State Board of Education's budget request. Now it must survive the appropriation process in the legislature.

The governor's budget serves as the working document for the legislature.

Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

Kinder began lobbying for the money in the state budget last fall.

"We've had a succession of green lights, and that's very promising," Kinder said. "I'm especially elated that it could help pass this bond issue in April."

The appropriations processes began Tuesday and continues through May.

"Our job now is to keep it in the budget," Kinder said.