Sales-tax flood plans must include island, west river bank, supervisors say

Linn County supervisors want it in writing from Cedar Rapids that May's Island  and west-side neighborhoods be included in any flood control funded through the proposed extension of the 1-percent local-option sales tax and any arrangement to tap local proceeds of the state sales tax.

“Until we get those assurances, I don't want to give a 20-year termination date for them,” Supervisor Brent Oleson said at this morning's work session. “I'm not going to rubber-stamp anything they send to me until they get that figured out.”

In addition to the planned May 3 sales-tax vote, local legislators are trying to build support at the state Capitol for Mayor Ron Corbett's proposal for  the county to keep some or all of state sales-tax revenue collected locally, beyond the $208 million collected in fiscal 2009, for flood control.

Supervisors want to ensure the downtown island, home to the county's courthouse and jail, is protected along with the rest of the downtown area.

The county's only real leverage over the situation is in its state-granted authority to set the “sunset” date when each tax-collecting jurisdiction would stop collecting the extra tax. Oleson said that unless the city specifies the tax will fund protection for May's Island and the Cedar River's west bank, he'd seek to limit its collection to a single year, or even just 90 days.

Oleson said the island and west bank needn't be in the city's ballot, but he's seeking a “memorandum of agreement” between the two governing bodies.

”I'm not interested in controlling their ballot language,” he said after the work session.

Oleson said he wants Supervisor Ben Rogers and Darrin Gage, the  county's director for policy and administration, to get a city commitment that May's Island and the river's west bank get the same level of protection as the rest of the area. The city's plans now call for removable flood walls protecting the downtown district.

“We need to do whatever it is to protect the island in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible,” he said. “We're not trying to dictate every detail.”

Supervisors must approve a local-option ballot from each city in the county spelling out the use and the collection period for the additional penny's worth for their jurisdictions. That approval is needed by March 25 for a May election.

Final approval will be at the board's formal session Wednesday. Supervisor Linda Langston said they'll allow each city to set its own repeal date for the sales tax.

“We are willing to set the repeal date as each council comes back to us and lets us know,” said Langston. She said city officials have indicated they're willing to address the county's flood-protection concerns.