No New Courthouse for Polk Co.

By Emily Geiger

A ballot measure that would have raised property taxes in Polk County to get the $132 million needed for a new Polk County Courthouse (and renovations to the old one) failed by a wide margin yesterday. In order to be approved, the measure needed to pass with 60% of the vote. Instead, it failed, with the “no” votes taking 57%.

I had mixed feelings about this. Tax increases suck, but I can see the need for more space, and the idea of keeping the criminal stuff separate also appeals to me. There’s nothing like going to pay a traffic ticket and having a guy in a striped jumpsuit and cuffs sit next to you while you wait to be helped.

I just think that, despite what proponents of the new courthouse said, they were asking for too much too soon. Ok, so you need more space. Do you really also need 70 new employees to go along with that? How are they going to get paid?

I think the legislature needs to learn from this. Look at how many tax increases were passed this past legislative session: huge increases vehicle registration fees, a 20% statewide sales tax increase… all while Buzz Lightyear gave himself and the other state-wide office-holders pay raises of between $10,000 and $20,000 each. All of this was approved by the legislature.

So, what the legislators need to learn from this is that, when the people were given the opportunity to decide whether tax increases and more government spending is a good idea right now, they overwhelmingly said no. It seems, with all their tax increases, the legislators are going against the will of the people.

I know, I know, if you talk to your local representative or senator about this, I’m sure he or she will tell you that he or she only voted for these taxes and expenditures because they were really needed. Well, apparently so is more space at the courthouse, but the voters didn’t care. They drew a line in the sand and said enough is enough.

Let’s just hope the voters feel the same way in November when they get to decide if all those people who helped raise their taxes (no matter what their party) deserve to go back to the Statehouse next year.