Cape Girardeau city and civic leaders hope the third time is the charm when it comes to passing a half-cent transportation sales tax.

Voters will decide the issue Tuesday.

The tax plan has changed some, but the tune is still the same as it was nine years ago when voters first rejected such a sales tax.

Proponents say the sales tax would fund badly needed road and bridge improvements, including paving the remaining two miles of gravel streets.

If approved, the tax would take effect Jan. 1 and is expected to raise $3.2 million the first year and $17 million over five years. The five-year total assumes an annual growth of 3 percent.

The city has identified 20 road and bridge projects the tax would fund.

"For the most part, it is either repairing stuff that is in bad shape or getting rid of some of these gravel streets that just are ugly and have dust," Mayor Al Spradling III said.

Many of the projects are the same ones proposed for funding in August elections in 1986 and 1987, when voters defeated them.

The outcome may be different this time.

In 1986, voters were asked to approve a tax without a sunset clause. In 1987, the proposed tax would have been limited to five years as is the case with the current ballot measure.

This time around, the City Council has also agreed to set up a transportation trust fund to ensure the money would be spent solely on road and bridge projects.

In 1987, some businessmen voiced last-minute opposition to the ballot measure. One of those businessmen was Ernest Beussink.

This time, however, Beussink supports the proposed tax because the plan has a number of street projects on the city's west side where much of the economic growth is.

So far, no organized opposition has developed.

Residents along the city's gravel roads are tired of eating dust. They view the tax as a way to get their streets paved.

But most affected property owners won't be getting a free ride. They will be paying part of the cost of street improvements through special assessments.

The City Council has set policies regarding such costs. Property owners would pay no more than $10 a front foot for the paving of their gravel streets. The city would pay the added cost in cases where concrete, and curb and gutters are needed instead of asphalt pavement.

Property owners wouldn't be assessed the cost of expanding, widening or improving existing residential streets if they donate the right of way. The city would pay the cost of paving streets for low-income residents who couldn't afford to pay special assessments.

Because Cape Girardeau is a regional hub, out-of-town residents could pay as much as half of the sales taxes, estimates Harry Rediger, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Rediger thinks more voters are convinced this time of the need for such a sales tax. He and others are mounting a down-to-the-wire campaign to pass the tax.

But the question still remains: What will voters say on election day?