Latest news with #CapitalImprovementsPlan
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Liberty is finalizing plans for its local option sales tax revenue. What to know:
North Liberty is hoping to establish some wiggle room with its latest local option sales tax proposal. The North Liberty City Council emphasized a plan that allows the city to allocate revenue to various priorities on a yearly basis, rather than adhering to a fixed plan. More: Iowa City drafts LOST revenue proposal emphasizing housing and infrastructure. What to know The draft language is not yet finalized and would have to be approved by a majority of North Liberty residents before it would take effect in 2026. Here's what to know about North Liberty's proposed ballot language for a local option sales tax: The city is required under Iowa law to use 50% of its local option tax revenues for property tax relief, while the city can use the remaining 50% in any way it desires. The drafted language sets the other 50% aside "for capital projects, including but not limited to, a fire station, fire apparatus & equipment, community center upgrades, parks, trails, streets and related infrastructure, equipment and other projects identified in the City's Capital Improvements Plan. More: Kim Reynolds vetoed an Iowa eminent domain bill for a host of reasons. We break them down: The five-member board engaged in a lengthy discussion on Tuesday, June 26, on whether to specifically designate a percentage of the city's revenue toward affordable housing. Several councilors were concerned that the current language was too "wordy" and was perhaps too broad. The North Liberty council is expected to continue this discussion at its next meeting on July 8. The North Liberty City Council expressed a desire to avoid a "sunset" clause, an expiration date, for the local option sales tax. Greater Iowa City, Inc. Senior Director of Advocacy Mackenzie DeRoo said many cities have moved away from sunset clauses. More: As Iowa governor's race begins, Democrats weigh how to talk about transgender rights Other Johnson County municipalities, like Tiffin and Solon, did not establish sunset clauses in their recently passed local option sales tax measures. The tax would return to the ballot if a future city council felt a need to remove the local option sales tax. The Iowa City City Council is pursuing a similar approach. North Liberty's push for broad use differs from Iowa City's proposal. The Iowa City City Council is eying a proposal that specifically prioritizes housing by allocating 25% of local option sales tax revenue to affordable housing initiatives. The council was narrowly divided over two other categories, infrastructure and community partnerships, which it wanted to allocate either 10% or 15%. More: Iowa women's basketball: Hawkeyes to play Baylor, Miami in WBCA Showcase in November North Liberty's approach allows for flexibility with potential six- or seven-figure revenues. Based on North Liberty's estimates, the tax could generate at least $1.71 million annually, leaving the city with a minimum of $855,000 in additional revenue. North Liberty's revenue is projected to rise by an additional $1 million if Coralville and Iowa City voters approve a local option sales tax. Though Coralville has not officially discussed a local option sales tax during a formal council meeting, the city has worked through details during work sessions. Long-time City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said Coralville would generate about $9.6 million annually through a local option sales tax, according to work session notes. If approved by voters, Coralville would receive between $2.9 and $7.3 million each year through the sales tax, depending on which cities in the metro passed a tax. Coralville would be free to spend roughly $1.5-$4.7 million, according to Iowa law. Council documents said Hayworth and Coralville city staff are working through ballot language. Iowa City staff previously said the ballot language needs to be sent to the Johnson County Auditor's Office by mid-August for placement on the November ballot. Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@ or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01. This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: What will North Liberty do with its local option sales tax revenue?
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Harbor Springs eyes possible electric projects to fund with bond dollars
HARBOR SPRINGS — The Harbor Springs City Council learned more about future projects that could be funded with potential bond dollars during their April 21 meeting. In March, the council unanimously approved posting a letter to intent to bond for up to $10 million. The total amount they will bond for has yet to be decided. From the publishing of the letter, residents have 45 days to put together a petition and collect 10% of voter signatures in order to bring the issue to a vote. More: Harbor Springs City Council exploring bond funding for substation project According to meeting materials, completing a second substation in the city will cost $6.5 million. If the city bonded for the full amount, they could be closer to completing two other major projects that are currently in the city's Capital Improvements Plan, including an M-119 line rebuild and the installation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system (AMI). Michael McGeehan, an electrical engineer from GRP Engineering, said the need for a second substation was made clear by the recent outages that hit the region, with late-March ice storms bringing down power lines and multi-day outages. "Coming through a catastrophic outage situation like we just did does show that ... if you lose one of the substation transformers at Clayton Road any time of the year, you will not be able to keep all of the customers on," he said. "That is the key to having a second substation built — that the transformer that will be at this substation will be able to keep all the customers on ... it doesn't matter what time of the year." More: Harbor Springs City Council approves 2025 budget, Capital Improvements Plan Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage The two phases of the M-119 line rebuild would be from Carpenter Lane to Ridge Road, and then Ridge Road until the farthest western end of the system, near Thorn Swift. The AMI metering system would allow the city to replace all of the city customers' meters, which would let the city know of potential outages without directly going to the homes to investigate themselves. During the meeting, several residents voiced concerns about costs and their disinterest in AMI metering. Maureen Kenney, a part-time resident and president of We Love Harbor Springs, shared her concerns about the city's spending. "We don't know the financial impact of the storm devastation yet. Will the state and federal funding come through? We don't know. D.C. is in a state of havoc right now," she said. "This catastrophic cost may be burden to our city. I'm asking city council to pause on issuing additional bond spending and only pay necessary expenditures." There were also discussions about burying power lines, though the total cost of burying electrical lines could vary based on what kinds of lines are being buried and where. Residents looking to bury lines near their homes can also come to city hall and receive an estimate for the work at cost, city manager Victor Sinadinoski said. — Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@ Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KarlyGrahamJrn. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs City Council receives update on potential bond projects
