Voters in Cedar Rapids will decide next month if the city can raise the local option sales tax to pay for flood recovery efforts. The Cedar Rapids City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place the one-percent local-option sales tax measure before voters on March 3.
If passed, the tax would go into effect on April 1. City leaders say 90% of the tax would be directed toward flood recovery and 10% for property tax relief. The tax is expected to generate about $18-million per year in Cedar Rapids.
The state legislature recently cleared the way for the special votes in counties where local officials missed a deadline for presenting the issue to voters early this year. Smaller communities in Linn County are also considering placing the sales-tax measure on the ballot, along with Iowa City in Johnson County.