It's Corporate Welfare

by Greg Tlapek, 4/19/2016

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved a $2.49 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) project last night.

Kudos to the two citizens who were there to oppose the issue.

Mayor Rediger is reported to have said "It will provide jobs.  It will produce income.  It will produce taxes."

The same could be said of any tax break given to any business.  It's corporate welfare.

School Bonds and Property Taxes

April 2015

$20 Million School Bond--What Will It Cost You?

For example, if your property taxes generally run about $1,200 a year, the bond issue will cost you $1,119. ($933 + $93 + $93)  That is the sum total of what the $20 million bond issue will cost you if it passes.   Your payments will be spread out over several years, most heavily weighted in the years 2030-2035.


You can easily calculate what this bond issue will cost you, almost exactly.  Look at your last property tax bills--personal and real estate.  Look for "assessed valuation" on the real estate tax bill, and "valuation" on your personal property tax bill.  Add them together and divide by 100.  Then multiply that amount by $4.87.  That's what this bond issue will cost you, personally. Roughly speaking, the cost will be spread out over about five years, between the years 2030 and 2035.

There is $616 million worth of property in the Cape Girardeau School District over which to spread the cost of the school bond.

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Property Tax--Fun Facts

School Taxes make up about 80% of our property tax bills in Cape.  The total tax levy for the CG Public School District is $4.157/$100.  Of that, $0.68 goes to service the debt on school bonds used for construction.  That 68 cents generates $4.2 million per year.

The Cape Girardeau Public Library (6%) gets about as much of our property taxes as the City of Cape Girardeau (6.9%).

The County gets 1.2%.