COUNTIES ENJOY HIGHER SALES TAX REVENUE

Sales tax figures indicate 1995 was a banner year for retailers in Cape Girardeau County.

The county's half-cent tax on purchases put $4.2 million in the coffers.

In 1994, the figure was $3.8 million. History shows a hefty increase in county sales tax revenue almost every year this decade.

Bollinger, Scott and Perry counties saw lesser increases, but none of the totals dropped.

"We've had pretty good growth since 1991," Cape County Auditor Weldon Macke said. "Cape County is fortunate to be at a crossroads -- we're on Interstate 55 halfway between St. Louis and Memphis and we have people coming from Southern Illinois to buy."

He said Cape Girardeau's many restaurants have healthy business and some are overcrowded at times. When people come to eat, they stay to shop at a variety of stores.

"One of the things that has held us back is that we don't have a good bridge over the Mississippi River," Macke said. "If you go to parking lots and look at the license plates, which I do occasionally, you'll see a lot of them say Illinois."

He said there should be more visitors after a new bridge is built just south of the existing one.

But Cape Girardeau isn't the only part of the county collecting more sales tax. With a new, larger Country Mart and other new businesses, Jackson is doing better too.

"Really, the whole county is growing," Macke said. "We're sitting in an ideal location, and when people shop here once, they come back."

Elwood Mouser of Bollinger County didn't have a specific reason why his county, which collects 1 cent in sales tax, went from collecting $382,237 in 1994 to $405,964 in 1995.

The big months for sales tax collections in Bollinger County are June and September.

"Our retailers don't have that big of an effect," Mouser said. "Maybe in the big months the farmers are buying fertilizer and other products."

Scott County saw the smallest increase in its half-cent sales tax revenue it has had in some time. The total for 1995 was $1,384,385, about $50,000 more than in 1994.

A big boost in Scott County sales tax came in 1993, when revenues from the newly opened outlet mall in Miner began pouring in. One remodeled motel and one new motel followed, but not many additional businesses opened in the area.

Instead of opening in Scott County, many Sikeston businesses have gone just across the line into neighboring New Madrid County.

"We got a small Sears in the Scott County part of Sikeston in 1995, but we don't seem to be getting many retailers," Presiding Commissioner Bob Kielhofner said.

Scott County also must battle neighboring Cape Girardeau County for retailers.

"I don't want to complain -- employment is good here," Kielhofner said. "But our geography doesn't do us much good on sales tax."

Scott County voters rejected a proposal for another half-cent tax back in 1995. The money would have been used for a new jail.

Perry County's sales tax climb has been slow but steady since 1990. The county, which collects a half-cent tax, took in $722,411 in 1995 -- up slightly from $714,779 in 1994.

Perry County Clerk Randy Taylor said he was pleased with the county's consistent growth. Even in years when he expected a drop there has been an increase, he said.

Downtown revitalization and other projects helped sales tax revenue in past years, he said, but 1995 was somewhat of an anomaly with no large retail businesses opening in the county.