Des Moines Needs More Money, Dammit!
By jimrob | March 23, 2008
A few years ago, Iowa passed a local option tax bill which allows counties to pass 1% taxes to provide additional funding for their schools if they wish. Of course, since this is “for the children” (and not merely to provide some overweight educrat a new computer), every county has agreed to pay an additional penny for each dollar spent on everything from utility bills to toilet paper.
Welp, Des Moines Public Schools cried foul. They said they needed more money to “fund education.” Their suggestion? Given that the 1% sales tax option had been passed in every county, make it mandatory statewide and then “distribute it fairly” amoung Iowa’s communities. Surely, I thought, this would never make it anywhere. Gee, how naive was I?
An Iowa House committee has approved a bill that replaces the local-option sales taxes for improving schools with a statewide 1-cent sales tax.
The bill sets the states sales tax at 6 percent and dedicates one penny, now raised by the local-option tax, to schools.
The money would be redistributed evenly. Under current law, its based on sales in the county where the tax is collected.
There are some changes to the original bill to make sure vehicle sales and use taxes dont go up. Lawmakers also approved an automatic date for repealing the tax.
Opponents said the bill amounts to a large tax increase.
That is the best response opponents to this garbage could come up with? This tax increase is nothing more than a… tax increase?
Nothing about the removal of local rights. Nothing about the schools which will now be out hordes of money so the Des Moines dropout factories can keep on churning out planned parenthood clients. Nothing about the sneaky backdoor shanannigans going on here. But, KCCI is a Des Moines station so I wouldn’t expect anything less. Iowa ends at the Des Moines city limits, you know. (Except for isolated patches in Ames at ISU and the new racetrack in Newton.)
Here’s a few FAQs from the DMPS “legislative priorities” page:
FAQ ABOUT THE PROPOSED STATE-WIDE SALES TAX FOR SCHOOLS
All 99 counties in Iowa have approved a local option sales tax for school infrastructure. This year, legislation is being considered that would continue this voter-approved sales tax on a state-wide basis. Here are some common questions about the issue.
What would this mean for Iowa?
Our public schools will have the resources to be the best possible environment for learning, as well as be able to meet needs that range from technology to security.
School districts across Iowa will have greater financial certainty, so that more long-range planning can be done in order to be even more efficient when it comes to spending the public’s money.
We aren’t playing politics with our children’s education. Every student, in Des Moines and across Iowa, should have the opportunity to learn in a quality school.
Not playing politics? Whatever.
What would this mean for Des Moines?
Equity: all children should be able to receive a first-rate education in a first-rate school, regardless of where they live.
This enables our school district, and districts across Iowa, to finish the work that was started when the local option sales tax was first enacted. When the sales tax runs out in Polk County, we will still have more than two dozen schools in Des Moines, attended by more than 13,000 students, which received no sales tax revenue for improvements. Every student and every teacher should learn and work in an environment that is best for education.
Perhaps you should have budgeted a bit more wisely? Maybe one of your tenured econ teachers should have told you how to best spend the funds.
Good schools are important to the strength of our community and our neighborhoods. Being able to finish the job at every school in Des Moines is a benefit for everyone who lives in our city.
For homeowners in Des Moines – who pay some of the highest property taxes in Iowa – the proposed legislation actually includes provisions for property tax relief by making changes in the state funding formula.
Uhm… property taxes in Des Moines are so high because property values there are so high. Also, there are many more public services to support. Should Plano, Iowa, a town with a population of fifty people and no services to speak of, have as high of a tax rate? Is it fair to expect citizens of other counties to subsidize Des Moines schools so “metro” residents can have lower property taxes on their $500k homes?
Is this a tax increase?
No. This would simply maintain the current sales tax at 6%.
So… instead of the sales tax expiring, this will make it permanent. Nope, doesn’t sound like a tax increase to me.
There are provisions in the proposal that will mean property tax relief for homeowners in Iowa.
So I’m paying you from some other source now. Gee, that’s like a tax cut! Sign me up teach!
People will actually see lower taxes on their utility bills. Today, the local option sales tax applies to your gas and electric bill. Under this proposal, sales tax on residential utility bills will only be 5%.
Doesn’t a statewide sales tax hurt urban areas?
Under the current law, school districts are limited to keeping only $575 per student, even though the true state average generated is much higher.
The proposed legislation replaces that cap with a rolling average recalculated annually. This year, that would be $730 per student in all districts.
Des Moines schools will receive more funds under this proposal than if we simply renew the local option sales tax.
Hold your breath, here comes a good one:
Doesn’t this avoid local control?
Iowans are strong supporters of public education, and voters in all 99 counties have already approved a local option sales tax.
So… where’s the answer to your question? We passed a local tax. That doesn’t mean we support redoing the system after the fact.
In addition, the proposed legislation includes a provision that requires School Boards to adopt a plan on how the sales tax would be spent and, if there is strong opposition the public can petition for a referendum.
That’s much better than “the public” having the option of voting out the tax.
Topics: Readin' Writin' and Socializatin' |
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