| Today's Feature Clarification Requested.
This year’s Budget process
has again brought up the need for clarification
of a 1985 ordinance concerning the funding of the
Library and Park Department. Both entities have
their own tax levy and have a financial interest
in the ordinance that eliminated the city
personal property taxes and city auto license
stickers in 1985.
In the ordinance, that
established a half cent "gasoline tax"
approved by voters, section two stated that
"The Carthage Public Library and Carthage
Parks and Recreation Board shall be held harmless
from any loss of tax income due to the
elimination of personal property taxes." The
question that has been left unanswered for
thirteen years is whether the language meant the
entities would be held harmless from the amount
they were getting in 1985, or if they were to be
held harmless from loss of revenue if the tax had
been continued.
Last year, the Council approved
a budget that reflected the amounts that would
have been received by the two entities if the
personal property tax had still been in effect.
There was, however, no Council approved document
or Council agreement stating that the practice
would continue.
In 1989, City Attorney David
Dally issued an opinion on the matter as
requested by the Council at that time. He
referred to the opinion last year when the
Council again requested clarification. He stated
in February 1997 that his opinion had not
changed. The opinion included the following
paragraph:
"That part of Ordinance
5963 which requires the City to hold the Carthage
Public Library and Carthage Parks and Recreation
Board harmless from any loss of tax income due to
the elimination of personal property tax has
caused considerable discussion ever since this
Ordinance was passed. I have been asked in the
past whether this means a specific dollar amount
that these organizations were receiving back in
1985 or whether it is a percentage amount based
upon what the personal property tax would yield
in any given year. There is no time limitation in
Ordinance 5963 which would indicate that this was
not intended to be a temporary arrangement. It is
my opinion that this particular portion of
Ordinance 5963 could in fact be amended by the
present Council to clarify what is meant by those
terms or the Council can make its intentions
known simply by its budget ordinance of each
year. If the City Council decides that they
intend to pay to the Library Board or the Parks
Board only a fixed dollar amount based on 1985
figures, I believe that position is legally
defensible. If the City Council decides that they
wish to make it a percentage amount which would
increase from year to year I am sure that
position is also legally defensible. I find
nothing in the Ordinance which would give to the
Council an direction as to what was intended by
the Ordinance when it was adopted in 1985."
In a letter from the Library
Board last year, then President Hugh Overton and
Vice-President William Lasley stated in no
uncertain terms how the Library Board interpreted
the ordinance. In that letter the impact of the
yearly increases was shown.
That portion of the letter
stated:
"Since 1989, the City has
given the Library a personal property tax
reimbursement of only $15,000 per year. The
personal property tax we would have been entitled
to, had we levied it in 1996, was $79,484.96. The
year before it was $64,068.65. We are herby
asking the City to reimburse the Library for the
full amount of the lost personal property tax. In
the interest of harmony, we are asking that we be
reimbursed only for the current fiscal year and
succeeding years. If the City fails to do so, the
Library has only two options: (1) to reinstate
the personal property tax, which we don not want
to do, or (2) to file suit against the City. If
we are compelled to resort to legal action, our
request will not be limited to the current
year."
City Administrator Tom Short
has requested that the Council establish a formal
policy on the matter this year.
Updating Visitor
Guide Notebooks
Release from
the Carthage Visitors & Convention Bureau
& Chamber of Commerce
The Carthage Visitors &
Convention Bureau requests that 1998 brochures
and promotional materials be delivered to the
Carthage Chamber of Commerce office during
business hours before May 15th for distribution
in the Visitor Guide Notebooks located throughout
the city. These new materials will replace last
year's information and keep everyone using the
notebooks current when visitors request
information.
Two years ago, the courtesy
notebooks were placed at motels, restaurants,
attractions, realtors and other locations dealing
with out-of-town guests. They provide brochures,
maps, activities calendars, and other literature
for all tourist-oriented businesses and
attractions so local business personnel can refer
to them and answer questions.
Unlike previous years,
notebooks will not be picked up at each site and
redelivered when updated. All sites where
notebooks are placed now will receive the
materials and instructions in the mail for
inclusion in their own site notebook. Businesses
who fail to delver updates will have old
information left in the notebooks.
Any one who does not have a
tourism notebook and who feels they would benefit
from having one should contact the Chamber of
Commerce as soon possible.
Signs Are Coming Back
Release from
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State
Representative, District 126
Rep. Bubs Hohulin, along with
Rep. T. Mark Elliott, Sen. Marvin Singleton, and
Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson, is pleased to announce
that after working with the Carthage Chamber of
Commerce and local city officials, MoDot
(Missouri Department of Transportation) has
agreed to put Carthage back on the I-44 signs.
When the new signs were put up
last year Carthage was left off entirely. Local
officials contacted Reps. Hohulin and Elliott and
Sen. Singleton to see what could be done. At
first MoDot said it was out of their control
because of Federal guidelines, but after
continuous pressure being applied by the
legislators some leeway was discovered in the
guidelines to allow Carthage to be added back to
the signs.
For Exit 18A-B on I-44,
Carthage will be added to the signs for North 71
two miles from the interchange, one mile away, ½
mile away, and at the interchange. The existing
supplemental signs saying "Carthage Exit
18-B" will be taken down.
Also, Carthage will be deleted
from the sign at Exit 57. This is commonly known
as the Halltown Exit. For years there has been
confusion with motorists seeing Carthage on the
sign and taking the exit, only to discover they
have 37 miles of two lane road to get to Carthage
when they could have stayed on I-44 to Exit 18-B.
Rep. Hohulin would like to
thank everyone involved that helped bring about
these beneficial changes for the City of
Carthage.
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