South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Five-year plan identifies Sunset Hills’ capital needs

Members of panel discuss importance of obtaining voter approval of measure

A Sunset Hills committee has identified nearly 100 potential projects totaling roughly $7.8 million as part of a five-year plan outlining the city’s capital-improvement needs.

Among the potential projects and needs for 2013 are: Hadley Hill Road design work for pavement rehabilitation and stormwater improvements, $110,000; right-of-way acquisition — 20 percent — for the rehabilitation of Kennerly Road, $5,500; three marked police vehicles, $65,000; two unmarked police vehicles, $43,500; a two-ton dump truck, $147,000; and a one-ton dump truck, $85,000; and concrete slab replacement in the east area of the city, $300,000.

Besides identifying the nearly 100 potential projects, the plan includes:

• Architectural/engineering funds for various design projects and infrastructure improvements.

• Funding for street and sidewalk improvements, consistent with the city’s pavement management plan.

• Purchase of various city vehicles and equipment across all departments.

• Improvements and upgrades to park facilities and infrastructure.

• Preservation of public-safety services and support.

Committee members established a June 29 target to complete their work, as voters will consider Proposition 1, a permanent extension of the city’s existing half-cent, capital-improvement sales tax, in the Aug. 7 election.

Committee members voted June 28 to move forward with the plan, but agreed to delete preliminary scoring and rankings they had formulated for the nearly 100 potential projects over the next five years.

Instead, the committee agreed to have city department heads and their respective committees review the preliminarily scoring and rankings of projects for one year — 2013.

Those ranking recommendations will return to the Capital Improvement Committee for the panel’s consideration.

The Capital Improvement Committee plans to evaluate the final list of 2013 projects, which then will be referred to the Finance Committee when it begins work on the city’s 2013 budget.

Of the plan, Capital Improvement Committee member Michael Fitzgerald, who also serves on the city’s Finance Committee, said last week, “… I think that this is an excellent template for how we explain what’s going to happen. Then the implementation, I think, is later on in July and August when (the) budgeting process begins.”

Twenty-four potential capital-improvement projects totaling $1,028,735.06 were identified by the committee for 2013. That amount exceeds the estimated $875,000 the capital-improvement sales tax generates each year.

“… I think that that’s a really good point that you show what the needs are and we’re not able with this tax to even get these needs. That’s why we need the tax passed …,” Fitzgerald said.

In discussing the sales-tax extension with a resident, committee member and Ward 1 Alderman Richard Gau said he emphasized the importance of approving Prop 1, noting a significant part of the revenue generated from the half-cent sales tax comes from nonresidents who shop in Sunset Hills.

“I said, ‘Hey, this is an effort to keep our property taxes low because if this doesn’t happen, guess what’s going to happen to your property taxes? They’re going to go up,'” he said.

Committee member Thomas Lynch later said, “… After seeing what it takes to run a government and to prioritize all this … we’ve got to go out and talk to our neighbors and our friends and encourage them. I mean no one’s mentioned that, but we’re the sales people. If you believe it, then you talk it up.

“There’s no way this thing should not pass, OK?” he said, adding he plans to email his neighbors and friends to encourage them to vote in favor of Prop 1.

The half-cent sales tax currently is in place and will continue to be collected through 2016, Lynch said, noting that if voters reject the extension, “We’re going to be in a very dire set of circumstances here to help run this community that we all love.”

Aldermen voted last month to adopt an ordinance placing Prop 1 on the ballot.

The ballot language asks voters if the city should continue to impose the half-cent sales tax for the purpose of funding capital improvements and paying the costs of operation and maintenance of those capital improvements.

A simple majority is required for approval of Prop 1.

The half-cent, capital-improvement sales tax initially was approved by voters in 1994 to fund a more than $5.7 million bond issue for City Hall repairs, a new police station, a new public works building and street improvements, among other items.

Because the sales tax is tied to a bond issue, restrictions exist on how revenue from it can be used. For example, for every dollar the city wants to spend from the capital-improvement tax for street improvements, 57 cents must be appropriated from general revenue.

As a result of a decline in general fund revenues, a surplus has accumulated in the capital-improvement fund. A surplus of $103,000 is projected for this year.

At the end of April, the capital-improvement fund had a cash balance of $688,184.

The bonds were issued in 1996, refunded in 2004 and are set to be retired in 2016. If the bonds are retired, the tax would end in 2016 unless voters elect to extend it.

The capital-improvement sales tax currently represents roughly 12.5 percent of the city’s total gross revenue.

If the remaining bonds totaling $450,000 are redeemed after the August election, the city would save an estimated $41,000 in net interest expense, and have a cash surplus of more than $238,000 in the capital-improvement fund.

In addition, the tax will continue to generate $875,000 per year for capital improvements. Redeeming the bonds also will eliminate the requirement that capital-improvement funds be matched with general revenues.

The ordinance placing the sales-tax extension on the ballot also established the Capital Improvement Committee, which is comprised of four aldermen who are on the city’s Public Works Committee — Chairman Stephen Webb of Ward 3, Gau, Alderman Thomas Musich of Ward 2 and Pat Fribis of Ward 4 — and six residents — Diane Stolzer, Robert Flynn, Bruce Studer, Greg Zveitel, Fitzgerald and Lynch.

The Capital Improvement Committee has been meeting weekly since May 24 — including two meetings last week — to formulate the capital-improvement plan.

More to Discover