Iowa’s tax rate is why option tax failed

The Gazette needs to stop shoving down our throats its opinion of why we all should rekindle the local-option sales tax (LOST) and how stupid it was for Iowans to vote it down. Let's get real about why it failed.

People are sick of getting taxed at the high levels we have in Iowa. We (in Marion) pay close to 2 percent of assessed value on our home - one of the highest percentages in the country. We pay close to 10 percent state income tax - one of the highest in the country. We (my wife/I) pay $625/year for a full-size 2007 car - one of the highest fees in the country. And you wonder why people didn't want an increase in their sales tax?

Also, you never state what experts determined for the 2008 flood. It was a 500-year flood. Odds are it will be 496 years before this happens again.

Finally, if you live on the beach (or close to the beach) and a problem occurs to your property, how is it a responsibility of those that chose not to live on the beach - perhaps for the very reason that a flood could occur?

So you know, my wife/I voted for the LOST! But, it was voted on and we lost. Get over it!

James Schmitz

Marion