Letter: We don't need new tax to fund City Hall's wish list

To the Editor:

I attended the optional sales tax informational meeting June 12 at the Sheldon Theatre under the direction of the local option sales tax advisory committee, City Planning Department and members of the City Council Finance Committee. At this meeting, we were informed that this proposed tax would be used to underwrite a bond issue for an as-yet-unidentified building project which would have major regional impact.

The attendees were given the opportunity, in a narrow three-week window, to suggest possible projects from which a project or projects would eventually be approved by the City Council and presented to the voters for ratification in the November general election.

It would appear that the City Council, frustrated in its ability to raise revenues to meet shortfalls in funding necessary obligations to the existing infrastructure, has discovered a new cookie jar in which to reach.

This tax, estimated to net approximately $1 million per year, would not be used for current operational needs and would increase the overall sales tax rate by 8 percent. No mention was made about the possibility of increases in other taxes, which are covered by separate mandate.

Based on previous experience of actions by the City Council and the Planning Department, I believe there is already a project in the planning stage and this little show of smoke and mirrors is another example of using the illusion of the democratic process as a subterfuge to mask other agendas.

For seniors and other families struggling to meet current obligations with diminished incomes, now is not the time to suggest a new tax for a Christmas list of pet projects. I am in resolute opposition and will do everything in my power to defeat such a tax.

Darrell Johnson

Red Wing