Peabody City Council
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Peabody City Council hosted a special meeting Monday night to review the upcoming sales tax proposal and answer any questions put to them by interested patrons.
Almost no one showed up.
A seven-page hand-out was available presenting the council's reason for trying to put in place a 1% sales tax. The only people helping themselves a copy were the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin news editor, former Peabody mayor Randy Dallke, and city employees Darren Pickens and Kristen Hooper.
Included in the hand-out were photo copies of invoices from Inland Paving for the past several years which showed an ever-shrinking area of street coverage that costs more every year.
When Peabody City Council members decided to pursue additional sales tax revenue several months ago, they planned to use the funds to cover only the cost of street repair and the installation and repair of curbs and guttering in many areas of town.
By law, once that determination is made, the city cannot decide to spend the money on other things.
In addition, the council elected to collect the additional sales tax for 10 years only. At the end of the 10-year period the sales tax will be dropped unless voters approve an extension.
Mayor Tom Schmidt opened the Monday night meeting with the comment that he had not had a single comment from anyone regarding the proposal, which will be on the ballot for city voters Nov. 7.
A quick poll of the council members indicated that only Ed Slocombe had heard from a constituent about the increase. That person had several questions about funding, but Slocombe felt he had provided the answers.
Schmidt reiterated that a sales tax increase would fall on a wider base of users than if the city had just raised the mill levy.
"The sales tax will bring in about $55,000 a year," he said. "To reach that dollar amount with property tax we would have to raise the mill levy by 14 mills.
"Local property owners will take a big hit if we do that. With the sales tax, people from outside the city limits who shop here, tourists who come in for tours or shopping, and people who rent property will help pay for the streets. And they should because they use them too.
"I commend the council for not going back to the property owners on this," he added.
Slocombe said the person who asked him questions wanted to know what happens if the sales tax does NOT pass.
"I told him the city will have less and less street repair," Slocombe said. "The money we have budgeted now won't cover what we thought it would when we started our long-term street plan years ago and costs are just going to continue to go up. And there will be no money for curbs and guttering which costs $8,000 to $10,000 a block for both sides of the street now."
Schmidt added that the amount currently budgeted for streets will continue whether the sales tax proposal passes or not.
"That is the only thing we can use the highway funds on," he said. "We can't improve the park, pay a salary, or buy a mower. We can only spend that money on streets."
That amount is expected to be $38,000 this year. The city also budgets about $22,000 annually for streets, but those funds are for routine maintenance, not special projects like resurfacing or building curbs and gutters.
Schmidt noted that if the proposal passes, the funds will arrive quarterly, beginning in April.
Although disappointed in the lack of interest shown by the community, council members agreed there was still time to get additional information into the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin and the city newsletter which accompanies the water bill.
The large stack of hand-outs left after the meeting will be available to citizens at the city building. Peabody City Council encourages everyone to pick one up and become familiar with the proposal before the first Tuesday in November when the question appears on the ballot and requires an informed vote.
For more information contact the city building at 983-2174 or any of the city council members.
