SALES TAX COULD FUND 12 PROJECTS

A proposed half-cent transportation sales tax would allow the city to widen Broadway, reconstruct a major section of Perryville Road and make a number of other street improvements.

Mayor Al Spradling III says such road projects are already on the city's unfunded needs list.

Spradling would rather gamble on meeting such needs through a sales tax than depend on future riverboat gambling revenue.

At this point, it is uncertain how much money the city would receive from a gambling venture, Spradling said.

But he indicated it wouldn't equal the $35.8 million that would be generated by a transportation sales tax over a 10-year period.

"Frankly, what I want to do with riverboat gambling money is put it in the bank for a year until we have really special projects," the mayor said.

A sales tax, he said, is a more reliable source of revenue.

Spradling hopes to convince his colleagues on the city council to place such a tax proposal on the April ballot.

Twelve projects totaling an estimated $12.8 million are already on the drawing board at City Hall.

Major projects include reconstruction of Perryville Road from Meyer Drive to Route W; widening Broadway to four lanes from Clark to West End Boulevard; extension of West End Boulevard to connect with Lexington and reconstruction of two existing sections of the street; and reconstruction and widening of Bloomfield Road from Kingshighway to Mount Auburn.

Spradling said such street projects could be on the drawing board for some time if the city has to depend on special assessments and motor-fuel-tax money to fund them.

The city, he said, is seeking to get away from relying on bond issues to finance capital improvement projects.

Spradling said a sales tax is the logical answer. "A significant portion of our revenue would come from out-of-town residents," he said. "It makes logical sense to have everyone share in this instead of just adjoining landowners."

Spradling raised the issue at last week's council meeting.

"Al was not shooting from the hip," City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said of the mayor's suggestion.

The possibility of putting such a tax on the ballot has been discussed off and on in recent years by everyone from the city staff to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Voters rejected such a tax twice within the last eight years.

Fischer said the tax could provide funding for more than streets; it could pay for everything from sidewalks to airport improvements.

"It is a very broad thing," he said.

PROPOSED ROAD PROJECTS

Bloomfield Road reconstruction and widening, $764,781

Broadview extension, $1.22 million

Hopper Road bridge and extension, $1.68 million

Independence widening, $532,511

Broadway widening, $438,198

Lorimier extension, $214,968

Mount Auburn extension, $233,335

New Madrid west, widening and reconstruction, $258,649

New Madrid east, reconstruction, $199,319

Perryville Road, reconstruction, $1.92 million

Sprigg intersection at Independence, reconstruction, $31,844

West End Blvd. extension and reconstruction, $1.65 million

Total construction and engineering: $9.6 million

Total right of way: $3.23 million.

Projects total: $12.84 million

Source: City engineer