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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Bill Watkins - (573) 874-7214

Transportation Finance Advisory Committee scheduled to meet March 29;
public has opportunity for comments

COLUMBIA, MO (March 25, 2005) -- The city's Transportation Finance
Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, March 29, in the
Walton Building Community Room, 300 S. Providence. Members of the public
will have an opportunity to make comments from 5 - 5:30 p.m. The
committee will review a draft of recommendations that could be presented
to the City Council. The draft recommendations and other reports and
minutes are available for review on the city's Web site at
www.GoColumbiaMo.com under announcements.

The committee conducted an in-depth review of the city's current
conditions and road needs, reviewed financing strategies, reviewed
financing options suggested by the consultant and focused on a strategy
to address maintenance, correcting existing deficiencies and road
construction for new developments. Some key points in the draft
recommendations are:

Substantial additional annual resources need to be allocated to street
improvements to (1) correct existing deficiencies and (2) construct
improvements to handle traffic needs resulting from new development.

A 10-year funding strategy that would require voter approval. This
strategy includes three sources of new revenue - sales tax, property tax
and a development fee/excise tax.

Road needs are closely related to development density, and the
committee recommends that the city should consider ways of increasing
new housing density moderately to hold down road costs.

A street budget that is more transparent and a road revenue package
specifically earmarked and kept in a separate fund.

Incentives for central city redevelopment and affordable housing.

Mayor Darwin Hindman appointed the citizen-based committee in August
2004 
with the mission of developing a strategy for allocating transportation
infrastructure costs and identifying funding sources. The committee has
been meeting periodically since its initial meeting in September 2004.

"I am pleased with the effort the committee members have put into this
very important project and I look forward to reviewing the
recommendations when they are forwarded to the City Council," Hindman
said. "The committee members represent a cross-section of serious
citizens who are genuinely concerned about planning for Columbia and its
residents. Two former Columbia mayors, a former Boone County presiding
commissioner, a representative of the County Commission and the
chairperson of the county Planning and Zoning Commission are included in
the committee. Transportation planning is one of the top priorities for
Columbia and the committee's work takes us a step closer to a plan that
will be of great benefit to Columbia."

"All of the affected interests worked vigorously on developing a set of
well-thought-out recommendations. I believe we have come up with a
compromise proposal that is fair and well-balanced," said Dale Whitman,
committee member.

Committee member Mike Martin added, "These recommendations represent
some key compromises between widely divergent opinions and positions.
The committee followed a process that included the experiences of its
members, as well as public input. We have hammered out a solution that
represents those divergent opinions."

Also, committee member Elaine Blodgett said, "The committee went beyond
the two-month anticipated finish date by four months in an attempt to
make sure that everyone's opinion was heard. All questions that the
committee had were researched and answered. We have definitely come to a
compromise solution B one in which there is consensus that moderate
increases will, indeed, produce the revenue needed to continue our
system of roads."

The 16 advisory committee members are Elaine Blodgett, Rhonda Carlson,
Bill Crockett, Dan French, Michael Hight, Karl Kruse, Charles Lamb, Ben
Londeree, Mike Martin, Al Plummer, Bob Pugh, Pat Smith, Don Stamper,
Skip Walther, Dale Whitman and Clyde Wilson. They have been working with
a technical committee consisting of city and county staff and the
financial consultant, Stinson, Morrison & Hecker, L.L.P.

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