Perhaps of interest in the aftermath of Tuesday’s landslide vote against local tax increase options (sales and land transfer), counties are already gearing up for another go at it. When the legislature authorized the counties to put one or both of the options before the voters (in the budget conference report in violation of the rules of both the House and Senate, by the way), they provided that the revenue generated from the tax increases could be used for any legal purpose. i.e. ANYTHING! During advertising campaigns prior to Tuesday?s vote launched by pro-tax groups (County Commissions, mostly), we heard in most counties that the funds would be used for school construction or to otherwise benefit the children. Since counties have now been authorized to fund roads, we heard that in a few counties the extra revenue would go toward relieving congestion and fixing roads. Now that the first round of referendums are behind us, we will see additional counties trying for a tax increase and in some counties, trying again. Expect a wide array of uses for the money – schools for sure, infrastructure due to growth, roads, and a new one – farmland preservation. See this news report from Polk County.
Things promise to get more interesting and in the grab for more money by local governments, more creative. We will be adding to our Regional Briefs, which ask the critical question in the whole tax increase debate – Do we need a tax increase at all?
