CAPE VOTERS WILL DECIDE CITY FEES, TAX ISSUE

Cape Girardeau voters will decide on a dozen increases in various city fees next April, along with changes in the hotel-motel-restaurant tax that would require more establishments to collect the tax.

The vote is an opportunity for voters to have a say about local taxation. For the most part, the fees in question are small and probably represent no threat to the pocketbooks of the citizenry. The hotel-motel-restaurant tax proposal is a bit more complicated. It will be up to the city to inform voters about the need for the changes in such a way that good choices can be made.