By Ulysses Arn -
Wednesday night, the Dixon School Board voted to put a 1% sales tax increase for all of Lee County on their April consolidated election ballot. In November, Lee County residents rejected the same sales tax increase with nearly 60% of the vote.
Dixon businessman Chris Hammitt spoke against the tax increase, asking the board not to put the question on the ballot. Hammitt said the board should focus on academics, and not athletics. During the first push to approve the tax increase, the Dixon school board planned to use a portion of the tax revenue to build a new sports complex.
Speaking on behalf of the Sauk Valley Tea Party and taxpayers in Lee county I reminded the board that the voters had already rejected this tax increase once and that we were "Taxed Enough Already".
When it came time for the board to vote on the increase, only one board member spoke out, particularly against the tax increase's link to the proposed sports complex. The other school board members in attendance who spoke about the sales tax had dollar signs in their eyes.
With only one dissent, the board
approved a resolution seeking to place the 1% sales tax increase on the
April consolidated election ballot. With Dixon's approval, it is now
guaranteed that Lee County residents will have to vote again on the
issue April 9th.
Northern Illinois now has at least three
counties seeking to have their voters approve 1% sales tax increases for
local schools April 9th as Ogle and Whiteside County school boards also
approved the sales tax questions in December.
