According to an exchange of letters retrieved by D. Gorton through a FOI request, Mayor Cole sent a letter to SIUC Pres. Poshard on Sept 28 offering to amend the city's agreement agreement with the university regarding the Saluki Way tax. Mayor Cole's letter says that due to the possible loss of funding for MAP grands, if Pres. Poshard wishes, the mayor will approach city council about amending the contract to allow the money from the Saluki Way tax to go towards offsetting the lost grants.
President Posahrd's response, two days later (Spet 30) declines the offer for two reasons. First, he expects the state to reinstate MAP grand funding and second, the money from the sales tax enabled the universty to sell bonds funding Saluki Way and "any changing in the intergovernmental agreement would, in all likelihood, affect the University's ability to pay for those bonds."
This works out very well for Mayor Cole. For the people who support the tax going to Saluki Way, it's still in place. For those who want it changed, it's now a matter of record that he approached the university about changing it and it's now President Poshard's doing that the tax still goes to fund Saluki Way, and President Poshard has shown in the past he has enough support at the unversity and state level to weather any criticism he might receive as a result of this.
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