Columbia officials predict capital improvement sales tax extension would raise $126-million

Columbia’s city council is considering placing measure on your August ballot to extend the quarter-cent capital improvement sales tax.

The measure was approved by voters in 2015 and must be renewed by vote every ten years. It will expire in December 2025. The city council held a work session on the issue earlier this week, and discussed a 45-page packet loaded with specific details. 

City officials predict that if voters renew the tax in August, it will generate about $126-million in the next decade. 75 percent of that, about $94-million, would go to public works projects. $31-million, or 25 percent, would go to public safety.

One of proposed main projects would be $1.1 million to improve the intersection at Bethel and Green Meadows, including replacing the four-way stop with a roundabout and adding sidewalks. Another proposal in third ward councilman Roy Lovelady’s ward would provide $7-million to improve heavily-traveled Clark lane from Woodland Springs to Ballenger. That project would include widening the road, adding bike lines and a center turn lane. Stormwater improvements are also planned.