Council tax plan is tough to believe in

The Cedar Rapids City Council is at it again. They want a 10-year extension of the 1-cent local-option sales tax, ostensibly for street improvements. They previously failed to shove a 20-year tax down our throats for flood recovery. We keep voting against a renewed tax because no one trusts the city to spend the money as it was designated. This is no exception.

The claim is that the streets budget is not sufficient to maintain and improve the streets. The tax is to be used exclusively for street improvements. There hasn't even been a vote and they are already saying that the streets tax extension would free up budget money for other projects.

If there is a legitimate need for the city streets, then it should be clear that the city will maintain the current streets budget, and additionally use 100 percent of the option tax for street improvements. If this is another city bait-and-switch on the voters, then the tax needs to once again be defeated.

Richard Rozinek

Cedar Rapids