Ellisville voters may decide on tax increase

By Steve Sanders, countyreporter@laurelleadercall.com

August 19, 2008 10:04 am

— Ellisville voters will probably decide on a one percent restaurant and lodging tax around the first of the year.
Mayor Tim Waldrup said Monday the board of aldermen has approved placing the tax proposal on the ballot, but not on the November presidential ballot. “We’ll have a public hearing on it, and probably put it on the ballot sometime after the first of the year.”
The one percent sales tax would be placed on motels and restaurants. Waldrup said the tax would start out generating approximately $100,000 per year. But he said that as Ellisville continues to grow, that figure will increase.
He said money generated from the 10-year tax will be used for economic development purposes and preservation and beautification of the downtown area. One of the uses will be to construct a frontage road off the east side of Interstate 59 near West Ellisville Baptist Church, an area where economic development is being planned, although no specifics are set.
Waldrup plans to put downtown infrastructure, such as power lines, underground to make the area more aesthetically attractive. “We plan to install period lighting, and possibly a landscaped area for a clock tower at the “T” in downtown,” he said. The tower would be located at Ivy and Front streets. “That’s where I would like for it to be. We will have landscape architect develop a plan, but the streets will not be closed to traffic.
“I think the first priority of any growth is to preserve the downtown area,” Waldrup said, “and that’s what we want to do. We’re anticipating a lot of support for the one-cent sales tax. We’ll explain all of it to organizations around town. We have heard from the citizens that they think the frontage road is vital to the economic development of the area.”