Letter: Council should consider taxpayers’ needs

Recently, the city sold the Smulekoff's building to a local developer at a loss of $4.3 million after holding the property for two years. In addition, the buyer will receive $120,000 in annual tax relief for the next 10 years. That is an incredibly sweet deal for the original owner of the property and for the current buyer. The only apparent losers are the federal taxpayers who provided the voluntary property acquisition funding that was used by the city to purchase the building and local taxpayers who will likely now need to offset the developer's 10-year tax relief deal.

The city council now wants to impose a '3-by-5” property tax levy (15 cents per thousand dollars of property valuation) to pay operating expenses for the new $46 million library (also largely paid for with federal flood relief money). With a budget increase of 40 percent from 2013 to 2016 ($4.5 million in 2013 and $6.3 million in 2016), the city should first provide an estimated library budget profile for the next 10 years before making a grab for additional property tax revenue. Transparency is sorely needed on library costs. If these examples represent a larger picture, then it is time to re-evaluate how federal flood relief money is spent. When $4.3 million is frivolously thrown away on the Smulekoff's building sale and when the new library immediately requires additional taxes for sustainment, one has to wonder if the needs of taxpayer ever enter into the council's decision making process.

Curt Moore

Cedar Rapids