Today's Feature

Tax Proposal’s New Developments.

The City Council Budget Ways and Means Committee met Monday evening in a regular session. Economic Development Director John Bode spoke with the committee about a proposed Economic Development Sales Tax, which would be used to purchase and prepare land for businesses looking to locate in Carthage. This item has been discussed by the committee previously, prior to new members being appointed. Bode gave the committee a general outline of the plan, and noted updates to the proposal.

The proposal for an Economic Development Sales tax is intended to be included on the August ballot for a City-wide vote. Bode recommended a 1/2 cent sales tax, with a ten year sunset provision. The funding at that level would generate approximately $8 million over the ten year period. In the proposal, 93% of the generated funding would be used for the purchase of land for industrial, commercial, business and retail development; bond payments, environmental assessments, engineering of the property and matching funds for state and federal grants.

One of the properties previously discussed as a primary option for annexation is north of the City. The property is owned by Americold Logistics. Bode told the committee that this option had fallen through, the land having been sold to another party. Bode noted that this was a setback in the plan, but added that it helped clarify why the City needed control of the property prior to the implementation of the proposal. The committee asked if there was any other property available, and Bode responded that there was a smaller section of land south of the City limits that was an option.

Committee Chair Bill Fortune expressed concerns about access to the southern property, after viewing a map of the area.

"I was in favor of this, definitely, when we had a plan," said Fortune. "But there’s no access to land in the south without another interchange."

Bode said that building a new interchange was an option. He said that the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has a cost share program which would split the cost of the interchange 50/50 between City and State funding. Bode said that it might cost $5 million to build an interchange, which could be appropriated from the tax funding. City Administrator Tom Short added that the City could hire an engineer to find a less expensive way to construct the interchange, still meeting MODOT’s guidelines. Bode also said that the southern property is in better condition than the previous consideration, and that it would require less work and less money to prepare it for sale to businesses. This, Bode said, would allow more funding to go towards an interchange and connecting road.

Committee members did not take any action on the proposal during Monday’s meeting, but expressed continued general approval in the pursuit of the plan.

The committee discussed the timeframe that would be needed to have the tax issue prepared by the August election, and agreed that a Council decision would be required by July. Bode told the committee that quick action would be essential to the plan.

"This is something we’re going to have to do," said Bode. "The thing about it is, it’s not going to get any cheaper."

A closed session committee meeting was scheduled for later in June to continue discussions about the proposal.

Mornin'
I don’t think of it as shoppin,’ ya shop for underwear. This is more of an adventure.

I’m in the market, as they say. Not in any big hurry. The tool I’m lookin’ for isn’t even a necessity. I’ve got time. Nothin’ worse than finally buyin’ somethin’ and findin’ out it won’t do what ya want it to do.

I spent a good portion of a day last weekend just findin’ out exactly what it is that I’m wantin’. Fact is, I spent most of the time just lookin’ for someone who knew anything about what it was I was lookin’ for.

I did run across another item I already had for ‘bout a hunderd bucks less than what I paid. Hate it when that happens.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Here's A Tip

• "When you come home from the grocery store, stack the meats in your freezer according to expected use. For instance, if you are going to have pork chops on Monday and fish on Friday, you’d want to put the pork chops on top of the fish. This way, you need not dig around for what you need to defrost. And make sure you wrap everything well." -- A.R. in Oregon

• "This is a tip for when you drop a glass or when something glass shatters. It can be easy to pick up the big pieces carefully, but the little shards are a nightmare to get up. Use a piece of bread. Just sweep up what you can find as best you can, then give the whole area a ‘sweep’ with a piece of white bread. It’s like magic, and the tiny pieces of glass won’t poke through, as they do a paper towel." -- Y.S. in Pennsylvania

• "Here’s something many people don’t think about. As spring and summer bring nicer temperatures, we tend to leave our windows open to air out the house. Even sometimes when we are not home, we might leave a few upstairs windows open. If you do this, make sure you don’t store ladders on the outside of your home or have a trellis or close-by tree that makes it easy for a burglar to access the second floor of your home." -- V.F. in Indiana

• Whether you recycle because of global warming, landfill overload or environmental issues, the planet thanks you. But remember that recycling is only one part of going green. "Reduce" and "re-use" are just as important. Choose products with less packaging. Have small appliances fixed instead of automatically replacing them. And keep recycling.