To the editor:

Should St. Louis County voters approve another sales-tax increase that would send tens of millions of tax dollars to downtown St. Louis to be spent by an appointed board that is not answerable to the public?

The answer is “no,” which is why county voters should reject Proposition P — the “Arch tax” that would supposedly finance improvements to the Arch grounds and will be on the April 2 ballot.

County taxpayers already are sending huge amounts of money to downtown St. Louis. This includes $180 million for the Edward Jones Dome and $108 million for the St. Louis Cardinals ballpark. Also, county taxpayers will be paying more than 80 percent of the $1.1 billion cost of the Cross-County MetroLink Extension, while also providing 85 percent of the tax money for the Zoo-Museum District.

About 40 percent of the funds from Proposition P would go for parks in St. Louis County. Not exactly a great deal. It makes little sense for county taxpayers to send more truckloads of money to the city with no accountability for how it would be spent.

Vote “no” on Proposition P.

Tom Sullivan

University City