Too much money going to wrong purposes

I am a resident of the northwest side and in June 2008, my home flooded. I will be voting no on the local-option sales tax referendum.

I believe a “yes” vote is also a “yes” vote on the city's flood mitigation plan. I am not in favor of this plan and many of my neighbors are not. The main reason is because of the budget (see city's website, www.cedar-rapids.org). I noticed that almost $45 million is being spent on plan design -

12 percent of the total budget. Almost $25 million, or 7 percent, is being spent to administer the project. For me this is too much to spend on these two categories. It means that all LOST tax funds collected for the first four years are needed for design and administration.

People need to make up their minds but please do not let the city guilt you into a “yes” vote. Many of us who were flooded are not in favor of the city's flood mitigation plan.

Robert Zeck

Cedar Rapids