Everyone wants some of that penny pie:
Area governments are asking the schools to share the money, but school officials say they fear doing so would cause voters to reject the measure.
``I have not had one person contact me in support of sharing,'' school board member Toni Cilek said.
``You can build those schools, but there's going to be no roads to them,'' said Coralville Council member Tom Gill...
It'll be a tough sell even if it's just "for the kids" (and I'm not sold even on that.) Throw in pet city projects and kiss the penny goodbye.
Earlier this week Supervisor Rod Sullivan wrote:
I have mixed emotions on the ICCSD Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) issue. I wish the ICCSD had chosen an option that was less bad for the lower income people in our community. Now that they have decided to pursue the tax, I wish the other governmental entities would leave them alone.
Of course local governments should cooperate. For the most part, they do. I just think it is incredibly disingenuous of other governmental units to try to piggyback on the ICCSD. The other governments know that the public will pass a sales tax for the schools, but not for any other unit of government. They want a piece of the action. These governments all have the opportunity to ask the voters to approve bonds, and Iowa City and Johnson County can ask for Local Option Sales Taxes. They do not need the ICCSD to pursue these options. But most observers of local politics realize that the ICCSD is the only governmental unit that could pass a LOST.
Coveting their money is one thing, but do not pretend you are trying to HELP the ICCSD sell the tax. Most veteran political observers agree with my observation the voters do NOT want other governments involved. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn¹t speak to enough people, is full of it, or is very wrong.
Though I voted against the tax on the Board of Supervisors (it passed 4-1), I feel the attitude of Supervisors Chair Mike Lehman has been among the best I have seen. His approach has been, ³if you are interested in sharing, we could certainly use it.² Mike has been supportive, and has not tried any guilt trips or hard sells.
What¹s more, I find it incredibly hypocritical that Coralville is upset with the ICCSD for a failure to cooperate. Were the schools consulted about Coralville¹s use of TIF districts?
The Gazette quotes Kelly Hayworth as saying it is ³always a concern when lack of discussion occurs.² I agree. That is why I have been asking for public discussion of the $6.3 million Coralville¹s TIFs have cost the County over the past 5 years. I have been on the Board of Supervisors for 19 months, and I have followed every meeting for much longer. The Board has had zero public discussions with Coralville on the issue of TIFs during this time. Cooperation, anyone?
Perhaps the concern is that the ICCSD held a public meeting as opposed to a private one. I firmly believe that more, not less, of what we discuss should be public. So I applaud the ICCSD for holding meetings that were open to all.
Back to the ICCSD and their sales tax. It makes me angry. Ironically, I can sit back and watch as other local governments try to doom it to failure.
Meanwhile on the national scene: "Ned Lamont (D) leads Sen. Joe Lieberman (D (sic) -CT) 54% to 41% among likely Democratic primary voters..."
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