Johnson County local-option tax rejected in largest jurisdictions

IOWA CITY - Johnson County's local-option sales tax failed to pass in the communities that would generate more than 97 percent of the tax's revenue.

The majority of voters in Johnson County's metropolitan area, as well as unincorporated voters, voted down the 1 cent, 10-year local-option sales tax in Tuesday's general election.

Voters in Solon, Swisher, Hills and Lone Tree approved the tax.

According to Tuesday's voting results, 54 percent of voters opposed the tax in the 40 precincts that make up the contiguous cities of Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin and University Heights.

The communities voted as one, with the LOST either passing or failing in all five cities.

In the contiguous block, 19,374 voters cast ballots against the LOST while 16,651 voted in favor of the tax.

Susan Mims, Iowa City mayor pro tem, said she was disappointed by the results. But she added that it's likely the council, facing lost property tax revenue in the coming years because of state rollbacks, will revisit the LOST discussion in the future.

'Obviously we were hoping it would have passed,” Mims said. 'It's not unusual for ballot issues like this to go on the ballot two or three times before they get passed ...

'I'm assuming that we will probably be back out informing voters again on what the need is.”

Mims said with the rollbacks, the city will have to look to cuts in services or tax increases to balance the budget.

Coralville Mayor John Lundell said he doesn't anticipate the LOST's failure to pass to have a large effect on Coralville.

'The results tonight don't totally surprise me, especially if you look back at the 2009 local-option sales tax election after the floods,” he said.

That LOST vote failed by a handful of votes.

The LOST also passed in Solon, Swisher, Lone Tree and Hills.

But the sales tax initiative failed to amass enough votes in Oxford, Shueyville and unincorporated Johnson County to pass.

The revenue ultimately added to local jurisdictions from the LOST depends on which communities pass it, but local officials had estimated it to generate about $20 million annually countywide.

With more than 97 percent of sales tax revenue generated in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty alone, the LOST doesn't stand to generate a large amount of revenue.

The state's LOST formula is based 75 percent on the most recent census data and 25 percent on property tax levies from 1983 to 1985.

Using the Iowa Department of Revenue's LOST formula and fiscal 2013 tax data, Solon aims to see about $163,000 in LOST revenue, Swisher would see about $80,000, Lone Tree would see $25,000 and Hills would see more than $46,000.