Cape council to focus on budget, development and taxes

Budget issues, development projects and taxes will be the focus of the Cape Girardeau City Council's annual retreat today.

The council is scheduled to hold an all-day study session starting at 8 a.m. at the Shawnee Park Center.

Morning sessions will be taken up with budget discussions and staff presentations on various projects, including the indoor sports complex, now under construction, and plans for construction of a new police station. Transportation trust fund projects also will be discussed.

Various department heads, including police chief Wes Blair, fire chief Rick Ennis and finance director John Richbourg, are scheduled to make presentations to the council.

City manager Scott Meyer said the budget presentations should be particularly helpful to newly elected councilmen Robbie Guard and Bob Fox.

"We try to bring everybody up to the same point," he said.

Mayor Harry Rediger said the special study session should help the new councilmen "get up to speed."

Rediger said the retreat will provide an opportunity for city officials to celebrate past successes and "set up a road map for the future."

Rediger added, "I think it is an important day. It builds camaraderie with new council members."

The special study session will provide the first opportunity for the council to review the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.

"It is always a first introduction to the council," Meyer said.

Rediger said the session will give council members a chance to offer suggestions regarding budget items.

Afternoon sessions will focus on a variety of items, including development issues ranging from mobile-home-park regulations to landlord-license fees and discussion of future tax proposals.

City officials have pointed out several tax issues will come before voters within the next several years.

They include a 3/8th-cent sales tax for parks and stormwater projects, which is set to expire in 2018 unless voters approve an extension.

A 1/4th-cent capital improvement sales tax, which funded sewer improvements, will expire in 2019 unless voters extend it.

The city's transportation trust fund 1/2-cent sales tax is slated to expire in 2020 unless voters extend it.

Voters have extended the five-year tax five times over the years, the latest coming last August. The city government has used the tax money to fund numerous road improvements.

During the study session, Meyer also plans to review state legislative issues with the council.

The meeting is scheduled to conclude with open discussion by the council, which provides an opportunity for council members to bring up any item they choose.

But Meyer said discussion among staff and council members will take place throughout the day.

Still, the city manager said the meeting involves an organized agenda.

"We try to stay on track," he said.

The council will take no action at the study session.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

835 S. West End Blvd., Cape Girardeau, Mo.