Linn County voters get say on water and land bond sale

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County voters will be asked this November to tax themselves extra for water quality and sensitive lands protection as well as park and trail improvements.

The Linn County Board of Supervisors, after hearing speakers support the effort, gave the green light Wednesday to placing a $40 million, 20-year bond issue on the Nov. 8 ballot.

At least 60 percent of the voters on the issue would have to agree for the referendum to pass.

More than half the proposed bond sale - $22 million - is planned for Linn County water quality and land protection efforts, supporters said. The remaining $18 million would focus on trails and parks - with an emphasis on water quality and protecting drinking water sources.

'We have a real need to improve the water quality and flood retention in this county,” said Dick Heft, chairman of Friends of Linn County Conservation and former president of the county's conservation board. 'We think we have an opportunity here.”

Supervisors unanimously approved placing the bond on the ballot, following a recommendation from the Linn County Conservation Board.

The referendum language going to voters for the Linn County Water and Land Legacy project, however, does not include a specific breakdown of projects to be financed.

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, who did not take a position on the bond issue itself, had recommended supervisors include the funding strategy - specifically the percentages - in the ballot language to add transparency for voters.

'I'm not for or against what you're doing, I just ask you to add the percentages,” he said. 'The voters want specifics.”

Dan Biechler, county conservation director, said bond-funded projects would be guided by existing master plan documents and all expenditures would be discussed by the county conservation board and reviewed by county supervisors. Those meetings provide for public comment.

'A major part of the bond measure is being fully accountable and transparent and that's what we plan to do,” he said.

A feasibility study in April, conducted by national non-profit Trust for Public Lands, found that a $40 million, 20-year general obligation bond would cost the average Linn County homeowner - one with a single family home assessed at $142,000 - about $27 a year extra in taxes.

While a May telephone survey found 63 percent of respondents were in favor of such a bond issue, getting more than 60 percent approval at the polls can be tough.

In 2008, Johnson County voters passed the state's first conservation bond issue - of up to $20 million - with a narrow 61 percent approval.

Johnson County Conservation Director Larry Gullett said that of the $5.6 million of bond funds spent so far, another $4.7 million has been leveraged from grants.

'If you can tell the grant review committee that 140,000 people in Johnson County support this - through the passing of the bond referendum in a vote - that's strong community support,” Gullett said. 'When the grant review committee finds out the local people are willing to put their own skin in the game, they know there's strong community support.”

Johnson County projects that have taken place or are in the planning phase include lake restoration at Kent Park, trail expansions and acquisition of lands.

Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig, who co-chaired the campaign that pushed for the bond, said it took a few years before the effects were noticed, but projects are picking up.

'It was slow to get started, but it's moving on all cylinders right now,” she said. 'There are so many things going on, we're trying to figure out how to get all of it done.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com