Local-option tax revenue split will be tight, specific, Corbett says

Tight and specific.

Those are the words that Mayor Ron Corbett used Monday to explain the ballot language that Cedar Rapids voters will see May 3 as they decide if the city should extend its 1-percent local-option sales tax for 20 years to pay for flood protection, street repairs and property-tax relief.

The ballot language, which the City Council is slated to approve this evening, calls for 50 percent of the tax revenue to go “to establish and maintain” a flood protection system on both the east and west sides of the river, 40 percent to be used for street improvements and 10 percent for property-tax relief.

At the current tax-collection rate, the 1-percent sales tax brings in about $19 million to the city. Over 20 years at that rate, the tax would provide $190 million for the city's flood-protection system, $152 million for street improvements and $38 million for property-tax relief.

Corbett noted that the City Council last month gave the go-ahead for the May 3 referendum and agreed to have him and council members Justin Shields and Chuck Wieneke work on the ballot language.

“This is very tight, very specific,” Corbett said. “It is exactly what it says: We're going for flood protection on the east and west sides of the city, for streets and for property-tax relief.”

The mayor floated the idea for the tax extension several weeks ago, and he said one thing he and council members have heard is that the ballot language in the March 2009 vote, which put the existing tax in place, was too broad and not specific enough.

“I think when you get too broad, it brings too many questions,” Corbett said. “We've been listening to the voters.”

The Linn County Board of Supervisors actually sets the length of the tax on the ballot measure, and the City Council's proposed resolution this week asks the board to extend the tax for 20 years.

The tax is now in place for 63 months, from April 1, 2009, through June 30, 2014. Ten percent of the tax goes for property-tax relief and 90 percent for flood-related matters. Specifically, that consists of the acquisition and renovation of flood-damaged residential property and as money to match federal dollars coming to the city for flood recovery and flood protection.

The extension would begin July 1, 2014.

In January, Corbett used his own leftover campaign funds to conduct a scientific survey of Cedar Rapids voters on the tax-extension issue.

The survey showed that voters would be more inclined to approve the tax extension if some of the money also went to fix streets and for property-tax relief.

Corbett on Monday called the city's preferred flood-protection system, which has an estimated cost of $375 million, a three-legged stool, one leg funded by local dollars, one by state dollars and one by federal dollars.

He said some people have asked him if it wouldn't be better to use 100 percent of the local-option sales tax revenue for flood protection, and he said, “We don't think the people of Cedar Rapids should pay for all of it.”

“This is a three-legged stool that we're trying to build between local dollars, state participation and the federal government,” he said. “With those three legs, we're going to be able to protect both sides of Cedar Rapids to secure our financial future.”