Thursday, July 20, 2006

Penny for their thoughts: Sales Tax forum

Penny for their thoughts: Sales Tax forum

I'm a no vote either way, but there's coverage in all papers this AM of last night's forum on the sales tax. The question on the table: all for schools, or share with the other governments?

Jeff Cox said Iowa City and Coralville have cost other governments tax revenue by creating tax increment financing districts for Plaza Towers and Coral Ridge Mall. This means governments such as Johnson County and the Iowa City School District do not receive about $3 million a year in taxes from those properties, he said.

'Iowa City and Coralville are raising the budgets of other communities to give subsidies to high rises and malls,' Cox said.

Rural Johnson County resident Ed Barker said the tax would not benefit low-income families, many of whom live in rental properties and would not receive property tax from cities...

'The best way to have a tax vote fail is to indicate it will be shared with other government entities...'


(Unfortunate, though, that Barker perpetuates the myth that renters don't pay property tax. We do, we just make the check out to the landlord instead of the treasurer.)

More in Gazette and DI.

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