Even with tax, IC would still be vulnerable to flooding
Thunderstorms raging through Iowa this weekend are a soggy reminder of the 2008 floods and a thunderous warning that those conditions may return this summer. With that threat in mind, Iowa lawmakers have passed a bill allowing flood-affected communities to raise additional revenue through local-option sales taxes. However, many communities remain vague about what they’ll do if voters pass the tax.
According to the law, Senate File 44, flood-affected counties can raise the sales tax if more than 50 percent of the county approves it in a vote. In Johnson County’s case, it would raise the sales tax, currently at 6 percent, to 7 percent. Cities and towns in Johnson County will receive a share from the countywide proceeds based on a formula that determines population and property-tax base.
There are caveats to this, however. A town or city within Johnson County would also need more than 50 percent of its own community to approve of the tax for that community to pay the tax or receive funds from the tax. If, for example, Iowa City did not muster 51 percent approval for the initiative, but the rest of Johnson County did, then Iowa City would neither pay the tax, nor receive any funds. Another caveat of the law is that if Iowa City approved the tax along with the rest of Johnson County, they could only spend the revenue on what the ballot designates as a revenue purpose.
Lucas Oglesbee, the campaign manager for Yes for All — a campaign to promote the tax’s approval — said Iowa City intends to fund projects that will affect the lives of all people hit by the floods last year. He lists such projects as raising North Dubuque Street above flood levels, repairing Park Road bridge — which, he said, acted more like an overflowing dam than a bridge last summer — and relocating a waste-treatment center. Oglesbee was confident the City Council would follow through on its plans to complete these projects and believes they will help in future flood mitigation.
Unfortunately, Ogelsbee and other tax proponents can provide no guarantees rather than their personal assurances.
Guarantees are what are needed now. The wording on the ballot is disturbingly vague. The revenue purpose the city lists on the Johnson County auditor’s website states, “100 percent for remediation, repair and protection of flood-affected public infrastructure and local matching funds for dollars received from any federal or state programs to assist with flood remediation, repair, and protection of flood-affected public infrastructure.” However, the statement doesn’t specify what that affected infrastructure is.
This wording is especially vague relative to the other communities also voting for the sales tax. Hills and Lone Tree both specifically list what the money will go toward: gutters, streets sidewalks, and storm-sewer improvements. North Liberty names Highway 965 specifically as a revenue purpose. Iowa City’s ballot lists no such specifics, let alone North Dubuque or the Park Road bridge.
Even if Iowa City does go forward on these projects, as Oglesbee and acting City Manager Dale Helling attest it will, there’s no guarantee the city will have enough money or that the projects will effectively prevent future flooding. Helling provided an annual estimate of $9 million in revenue for Iowa City. Over the four-year span that Johnson County has to collect this tax, this only amounts to $36 million, insufficient for the $90 million Helling said Iowa City needs to implement these projects. Even with matching funds Iowa City will receive, it still does not meet the $90 million cost.
These projects, Helling said, will not be effective in preventing the Iowa River overrunning its banks and flooding Mayflower or other parts of Iowa City. These projects are geared more toward repairing damage than preventing future damage. For the proposed tax to hold any water, Iowa City officials need to make their goals clear.
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