What's wrong with the duration of the May 3 LOST proposal?
1) It limits our ability to address future needs for 1/4 of a century.
Iowa law prohibits lower-levels of government from exceeding 2% of optional taxes, 1% each for a Local-Option Sales Tax (LOST) and a School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO). This measure extends the existing 5-year tax by an additional 20 years. That's a total of 25 years, 23 years of which remain. That means that if anything else occurs during a quarter-century period that might normally provide reason to pass such a tax, we won't be able to, since we will have already reached our limit. Imagine if a major tornado destroyed much of the city like it did to Parkersburg a few years back. We would still be focused on the river and the roads, while city buildings or other needs could go unaddressed.
2) Priorities can change over time, and this locks in today's priorities.
Couples having children today could have grandchildren born while this tax remains in effect. Priorities of a city can change too. After just a few years of adequate spending, the roads could be in great shape. But what if we need water mains or sewer replaced on a large scale? What about other priorities that might arise? Again, we will have locked in today's priorities for generations to come.
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