Don't sign the petition

Petitions are being circulated by the Yes to Destiny committee formerly known as People for Project Destiny to place a new one-cent sales tax measure on the July ballot.

Please don’t sign the sales tax petition.

The reason is simple – there has not been enough concrete information regarding this issue. Yes, there has been news, projections and opinions voiced but not one legally durable and binding word about how it will affect voters – people like you.

Before I sign my name to something to be placed on the ballot, I want to know specifically how an issue will affect me in real dollars not cents.

As a homeowner, I would want to know for sure that there is a legal commitment to reduce my property taxes by more than the cost of the sales tax.

As a renter, I would want to know how much my landlord would have to rebate to me on an annual basis from his property tax savings.

As a business owner, I would want to know how this would affect my future sales and profits. How much more business could I afford to loose to the Internet if the sales tax rate is increased. If I sold clothing, I would want to know how many thousands of my sales dollars would travel north to Minnesota where clothing is exempt from sales tax.

As a consumer, I would want to know how much I would be paying on this new sales tax. I would question my confidence in our elected official’s ability to properly administer the plan. I would want to know that the DM Partnership polled its’ retail members on this plan before endorsing it.

As a senior citizen, I would want to know how much I would receive in the “special” property tax reductions.

Finally, as a citizen, I would want to question my own values about the rightness and fairness of the proposal from an ethical standpoint, not just the effect on my personal finances.

The time to sign a petition is only after you have those answers, and have had time to consider them as positive for your situation, not a minute before.

From the Yes to Destiny committee report I see that there is not the broad base of support, at least financially, only 15 businesses. This does not sould like the meaning of grass-roots to me. I think that there are many hundreds of businesses who are not in favor of this plan but who fear the negative publicity of being against what the "leadership" wants.

Nip this bad idea in the bud - don't sign the petition.

Who Supports the New Sales Tax - Interesting Read

Learn about who has financially supported the new sales tax plan from the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board. Also follow how dollars were spent on preparation to convince voters to support the Project Destiny sales tax. Note that the group name has been changed to "Yes for Destiny".

The following is the link to the campaign contribution report. It is a .pdf file so it will take a little time to load but it will show you the businesses and individuals who have been supporting this new tax. Enjoy and let me have your comments if you wish.

Click here to load full report.