The 1 for 1 for 1 sales tax increase

To the editor:

Monday night, Jan. 28, at a big and long Wasilla City Council meeting, the taxpayers of Wasilla and supporters of a new library were heard by the council on the subjects of increasing the city’s sales tax and funding a new library.

Mayor Verne Rupright’s ordinance, which would have increased the sales tax 50 percent, was killed.

In doing so, members of the city council expressed their dislike for the slush funds that the mayor’s proposal would have created; that there was no list of projects beyond the library; and that this increase would be forever and never sunset. As several council members pointed out, this was the same proposal that the mayor had made last July, that everyone had hated, and that had been voted down then.

Every council member spoke in favor of what I call the “1 for 1 for 1 sales tax increase,” a 1 percent increase to fund one project — a new library — that will sunset after one year. It is anticipated that this one-year increase of 1 percent will generate enough revenue to fund the city’s portion of the cost of the library. Wouldn’t that be something: building a new library without borrowing! That would be historic!

The ordinance for this 1 percent increase for one year for one project will be on the agenda for the Feb. 25 meeting. I say “yes!”

Good work, folks!

Anne Kilkenny

Wasilla