talking real money
The one cent SILO tax isn't even being collected yet and already:
A majority of City Council members would support a 1 percent sales tax to boost city coffers, a topic sure to cause heated debate in the community.
Council members told The Gazette they would support the tax if the money went toward certain projects, especially hiring more police and fire personnel and offering property tax relief.
Ross Wilburn and, more aggressively, Dee Vanderhoef both mentioned sales tax at this month's early bird candidate forum.
SILO had a killer yes argument even for those of us who on principle have problems with regressive taxation: the carrot of keeping money local and the stick of a legislative majority that was ready to impose it statewide if Johnson and Linn, the last two non-SILO counties, didn't sign on. The difference in money was roughly a high school.
The local option tax has no such momentum. The Legislature would do well to consider more progressive options for local governments next session.
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