Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continued support. Last week I had the chance to deliver my first State of the City Address, where I highlighted numerous opportunities and challenges before this City. We have a chance to address one of those challenges at the ballot box this Tuesday.
As I discussed last week, the City’s past practices for paying for roads and other infrastructure improvements has hit a dead end. Our citizens have voluntarily agreed, year after year, to raise City property taxes to fund road improvements. We have also continued to require the purchase of a City vehicle sticker for the privilege of driving on our local roads.
In doing so, we have raised our local municipal property tax rate to one of the very highest in the State while folks who live near Rockford, but out of town, who still drive on our roads, pay none of those taxes. This has lead to economic decline in our tax base in several areas as many people have left Rockford for cheaper property tax rates in surrounding communities.
Well, that’s the bad news. The good news is that this Tuesday, March 21, we have a chance to increase capital investment around our businesses and neighborhoods while lowering our property taxes and eliminating nearly $70 million in accumulated city bond debt.
The proposal is to pay for capital improvements through a 1% sales tax, so we can invest in infrastructure and lower our property tax rate.
For the first time, the burden of paying for infrastructure would be supported in part by non-residents who shop in Rockford. Approximately 35% of sales revenues we receive come from outside Rockford.
The 1% proposal would decrease the City property tax by 20% by 2016, restoring the Rockford city property tax rate back to 1985 levels.
This proposal would also allow us to eliminate the vehicle sticker starting in 2007.
And the bottom line is that we would get an additional $3 million for infrastructure projects while City taxpayers, as a group, would pay an estimated $1 million less each year to 2016 than what we currently pay.
This 1% sales tax would not apply to groceries, prescription and non-prescription drugs, or titled vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles.
We want to join those other successful communities who have shifted to a sales tax, partially paid for by non-residents, to decrease property taxes, while increasing investment in quality infrastructure for economic development.
Rockford is on the rise! Let’s continue our push for Excellence Everywhere with an outstanding chance to lower our property tax rate and increase economic development by improving our transportation system. I urge your support of this 1% solution on Tuesday, March, 21. For further information, check out the full presentation on the program at www.cityofrockford.net/uploadedFiles/government/Mayor/News/SalesTaxProposal.pdf.
Thank you again for your continued support,
Mayor Larry Morrissey