Missouri Bicycle News Article

State parks officials are floating the idea of a tax to support maintenance of the Katy Trail.

How about thinking a little bigger and making that a dedicated tax to build and maintain a complete, well-designed, interconnected statewide network of trails?

Just a little bit of money could go a long way to making that happen. Imagine being able to build & maintain even 10 or 20 more miles of trail every year--over the next few decades Missouri would end up with a really extensive, world-class trail network.

According to an article in today's KCStar:

A levy to support parks ended in the 1970s. Afterward, a combination of general revenue funds, user fees and grants supported state parks.

Cutbacks in federal grants in the early 1980s caused a budget pinch for maintenance and operations, Eiken said.

Voters in 1984 approved a one-tenth-cent sales tax for parks and soil conservation, which voters renewed last year. The original intent of the tax was to provide extra funds for unmet needs, he said.

But Missouri legislators by 1989 had quit providing general revenue funds to state parks, Eiken said. The sales tax money went to daily operations instead, with none left over for improvements. . . .

Legislators are more open to parks funding because the state’s revenue has improved, said Darrell Pollock, a state representative and chairman of the Special Committee on State Parks and Waterways.

House members are feeling more as if “this is something that has to have some attention,” Pollock said.

Officials also are pondering a dedicated tax to operate the Katy Trail, the cross-state trail that officials hope eventually will link to Kansas City.

Related:

News: Boonville Daily News: Bikers say complete Katy Trail close to reality

News: Katy Trail Connection--where will it go?

News: Plan for regioinal trail and greenway funding underway in Kansas City

News: TrailNet endorses Prop. M (Metrolink) in St. Louis County

News: Kansas City MO approves $1.5 million for trails projects