Reject sales tax referendums

Vote against sales tax referendums!

The school district has used sales tax revenue to offset non-collection of impact fees from developers. That wasn’t illegal nor was it illegal to stop collection of impact fees in 2009, costing the school district over $87 million. It was unethical for the school district to make promises to get voters to approve the sales tax in 2002 and then fail to keep their promises.

That is why I will vote against the extension of the school sales tax and implementation of the county half-cent sales tax. It seems ludicrous to vote for a 15-year, $1 billion commitment without any controls that prevent misuse of those funds.

Both the school district and county suspended or significantly discounted impact fees since 2009 and those discounts continue even though both the county and school face significant financial shortfalls in 2017. Both have been financially irresponsible and should not be trusted with any more of our money without strict controls.

I urge that we all vote against both referendums in November with the understanding that there will be another vote next year that will include strict limitations written into the referendums that will limit the term of the tax to six years, renewable every six years by vote of the people. Impact fees will be collected at the 100 percent rate as long as the tax is in effect.

At least 25 percent of the revenue will be used to pay down debt; 25 percent will be used for new and improved infrastructure; 50 percent will be used for capital expenditures to be determined by a citizens’ advisory committee. To receive the funding, departments will submit specific recommendations and justifications.

To fill any revenue gaps next year, both the county and schools should sell excess property.

This story was originally published October 9, 2016 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Reject sales tax referendums."