Northeast Missouri Counties Voting On Tax To Expand Highway

The fate of the completion a four-lane corridor that runs from Hannibal to St. Joseph is in the hands of voters in just five counties in northeast Missouri: Macon, Marion, Shelby, Monroe, and Ralls. They’ll be deciding if they want a half-cent sales tax for 15 years to pay a share of making Highway 36 four lanes from Macon to just west of Hannibal. All five counties have to approve the measure, and MoDOT will more than match what they put in. Larry Craig with the US 36/I-72 Corridor Transportation Corporation is excited about the prospect. But George Lane, the Presiding Commissioner of Ralls County and an opponent of the measure, says it would also set a bad precedent for the rest of the state: the only way to get a road built is to raise local taxes. Lane believes the measure will be beaten in his county and that would kill the tax increase for all five counties.