Parks taxes under debate

Mitzi Marshall has been a fan of Stephens Lake ever since it was a golf course owned by Stephens College. Now that it’s a city park, she likes to spend time there with her daughter, Kylie, and her Yorkshire terrier, Ranger.

Like other park users, Marshall likes to use the open space at the lake and the newly developed trail to walk and let her dog romp. And the Stephens sled hill is a family favorite for winter recreation.

“Overall, I think we’re very fortunate to have this park in our area,” Marshall said.

Just five years ago, the possibility existed that the Stephens Lake property would be developed as a residential area.

Stephens College leaders, trying to improve the school’s bottom line, announced they would sell the 116-acre property. That’s when the Columbia City Council declared its interest in buying the land and developing it as a park. It asked voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax to make that project — and other parks improvements — possible. Proceeds from half the tax, they said, would be used to buy and convert the lake land. Voters signed on.

The city since April 2001 has collected about $17.5 million in sales taxes for parks, or about $3.5 million each year. The money has paid for a host of projects, from the mundane improvement of park roads and parking lots to the addition of new parks or amenities throughout the city.

True to their word, officials spent nearly half the money — or about $8.75 million — to buy the Stephens land at Broadway and Old 63, plus another $2.5 million to develop it and add amenities. It built a boardwalk and gazebo on the 11-acre centerpiece lake, which is used for swimming, fishing and boating. It also added parking, public art, a 1.7-mile perimeter trail, picnic shelters and playgrounds.

Now that half the parks tax — scheduled to expire March 31 — is about to dry up, the City Council is asking voters to keep it at a quarter-cent. Propositions 1 and 2 together would extend the expiring one-eighth-cent tax for another seven years, generating $17 million for parks projects large and small.

City leaders say an extensive parks system is one thing that makes Columbia a vibrant and growing community. Parks, they say, help people stay fit and make their lives more fun. Opponents of the sales tax, however, say it should be reserved for the most basic of needs.

Marshall said she understands arguments for and against extending the parks tax.

“The tax will probably be needed,” she said, “but it will be an imposition on many people, the way the economy is.”

Barb Glenn, who spends a lot of time at Cosmo Park, was selling T-shirts at the state high school softball tournament there on Oct. 22. While she enjoys Cosmo Park, she called the Stephens project a waste of money. Few people use the park, she said.

“It was more fun when it was just a lake,” Glenn said. “We’ve spent $10 million on a place no one goes to. That doesn’t make sense.”

Lisa Oswald, who has lived in Columbia 18 years, visited Stephens Lake Park for the first time on a recent Sunday. She said her family mostly goes to Cosmo Park on the city’s west side, but a family picnic brought her to one of Stephens’ new picnic shelters. She took a stroll around the lake and called it “gorgeous.” To her, the sales tax proceeds represent money well-spent.

“I think any time we can spend our money on something we can enjoy, it’s a great way to spend our money,” Oswald said.