Voters to decide fate of local sales tax

Several towns in the county will vote on whether to continue a local option sales and service tax (LOSST) on election day. Eight towns in the county have a 1 percent sales tax which they use for various purposes depending upon the wishes of each city. The residents of six of those eight towns will vote Nov. 8 on whether to continue to collect the tax within their city. If approved, the tax would be renewed July 1, 2012.

The two cities that will not vote on the measure are Kalona and Washington. The residents in those towns will not vote because their city councils have not chosen a sunset date for the sales tax. In those jurisdictions, the tax may be amended or terminated through a citizen petition calling for a public referendum, or through the city council passing a motion calling for a referendum.

Washington County Auditor Bill Fredrick said the local option sales and service tax was first approved in the county in 2002 during a special election that January. Kalona approved the tax but did not pass a sunset date.

Washington was the only city whose residents rejected the sales tax at the referendum, meaning that Washington residents would not pay the tax but neither would they receive the receipts. However, there was another referendum in September of that year which did pass.

The referendum Washington?s residents approved called for 50 percent of the proceeds from its share of the receipts to go to streets, sewer and water improvements and to the police and fire departments. One quarter of the tax went to transit services, namely the Minibus. Another quarter of the sales tax went to property tax relief.

In Kalona?s case, none of the tax receipts go to property taxes. One hundred percent of the receipts go to capital projects such as but not limited to street improvements, the public library and to recreational facilities.

Ainsworth residents decided that 40 percent of the tax would go toward property tax relief while 50 percent would pay off its water debt and another 10 percent would go toward recreation. In Brighton, 100 percent of the receipts go toward city infrastructure such as streets, sewer and recreational facilities.

Crawfordsville and Wellman allow 100 percent of the tax to go toward ?any lawful purpose,? with the exception of property tax relief. In Riverside, 60 percent of the receipts go to capital projects while the other 40 percent goes to property tax relief. At its meeting Aug. 1, the Riverside City Council voted to set a sunset date of June 30, 2022, conditional on the tax?s approval.  

West Chester decided that 100 percent of its tax receipts would go toward community betterment, maintenance, street improvements and park improvements.

The rural residents will not vote on the tax. For them, 100 percent of the receipts go to property tax relief.