Only a few area cities will have items to decide on election day Aug. 6.
Final certification of ballot measures occurred this week. No county office holders have terms expiring this year.
Residents in Poplar Bluff’s five city wards will vote on whether or not sales tax money should be used to fund a four lane project of Highway 67 south to the Arkansas state line.
The only other measures will appear on Dunklin County ballots, for residents of the towns of Campbell, Arbyrd and Senath.
No measures have been filed for Ripley, Carter, Wayne or Stoddard counties.
The Highway 67 measure does not create a new sales tax, according to officials. It would use the remaining time left on an existing sales tax, which has paid for work on Highway 67 north to Fredericktown.
A 50-mile stretch of highway north of Poplar Bluff is funded through a one-half cent Poplar Bluff sales tax that was created in 2005.
The tax is scheduled to be in place until 2035, but the work north of town will be paid for by March 2020.
This measure will ask voters if the remaining time on the tax can be used for improvements to a 12-mile section of Highway 67 south. Members of the Highway 67 Corporation, which took the first measure to voters, are now asking residents to “finish what we started.”
If the August measure is not approved by voters, the tax would end when the north work is paid for. If the measure is approved, the tax would end no later than the original deadline, 2035.
Officials have said at about $2.5 million per year, the tax is collecting more than expected.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has estimated the four-lane construction would cost $50 million. No route has been selected at this time.
The project would apply for a $25 million build grant from the federal transportation department and a $10 million cost share from MoDOT, according to officials.
The city of Campbell is asking residents about two items, a one-half cent sales tax to fund local parks and a one-half cent sales tax for economic development.
Both the cities of Arbyrd and Senath would like residents to sign off on separate plans related to elections. Neither city would hold an annual election if the number of candidates was equal to the number of open positions, according to the measures.