Peoria Area Association of Realtors Board endorses building the block – Vote YES on public utility tax
I don’t agree carte-blanche with everything that comes out of the Realtor Association, but here is an advisory statement made by them in which we strongly agree. Before us is an opportunity to add a significant amenity to our town with minimal taxation that does not hurt the homeowner – a rarity these days. In addition, it would serve to solidify relationships with our premier employer in very troubling times. The following statement was released to the Realtor general membership by the Peoria Association of Realtors Board of Directors. Remember, what is good for Peoria is good for housing. What is good for housing is good for homeowners!
From an e-mail to the Association of Realtors membership (printed here with permission):
The Peoria Area Association of Realtors support “Build the Block”, and strongly encourages all REALTORS living in Peoria County to vote on April 7. You can take advantage of early voting between March 16 and April 2.
Why? It’s a small price to pay to create a better quality of life for Peoria – and for future generations. It’s a small price to pay for the ongoing development of downtown Peoria. It’s a small price to pay for attractions that will bring thousands of people to Peoria for the day or even a weekend. It’s a small price to pay to have a state-of-the-art 3-D IMAX at every one’s fingertips. It’s a small price to pay to have a NASA-funded PowerDome Planetarium that explores the cosmos. It’s a small price to pay to showcase the athletic, artistic and scholastic achievements of students from all 750 Illinois high schools. And, that’s not all. Include national traveling art exhibits from the Smithsonian Institute, an African-American Wall of Fame celebrating local civil rights leaders, and an interactive Illinois River Encounter that explains the ecology and history of our greatest natural resource. Any one of these experiences could make Peoria a destination for your family, friends, and clients. And with your help, it could also put Peoria on this region’s tourism map. For the average Peoria County resident, it’s a commitment of only $17. per year on retail and restaurant purchases. That’s one bottled water or a cup of coffee per month. It’s truly a small price to pay as you tell potential home buyers about the Peoria area and what it has to offer. Not to mention that this can be Peoria’s stimulus package – we can put a lot of people to work over the next two years with this project. We encourage you to vote YES on April 7 to build the block.
BALLOT INFORMATION
• The Peoria County sales tax question will be the only referendum question on the April 7, 2009, Peoria County ballot. The language of the referendum, included in full below, will not mention the Peoria Riverfront Museum , but rather “public facility purposes”:
VOTE YES: To pay for public facility purposes, shall Peoria County be authorized to impose an increase on its share of local sales taxes by one quarter of one percent (1/4%) for a period not to exceed twenty (20) years? This would mean that a consumer would pay an additional twenty-five cents (25¢) in sales tax for every $100 of tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed, the additional tax would cease being collected at the end of twenty (20) years, if not terminated earlier by a vote of the county board.
• The language of the referendum is dictated by State law and does not allow for further clarification, such as inclusion of the words museum, block or listing of purchases not included in the tax.
• Vote YES to help ensure the Peoria Riverfront Museum and The Block become a reality.
And if you believe that, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn you may have some interest in buying….
Why should taxes be paying for any of this “amenity”? Is the recession over?
anyone that thinks tractors will still be built in this area in 5 yrs is living in a dream world. when feces are floating in the parking deck of the museum, the realtors and other blockheads should be required to clean up the mess since they all know what is best for our tax money!
What do you expect from Realtors? What’s another little tax gonna do? Just add yet another little tax here and there. Don’t worry, it’s only a temporary tax. It’ll go away 20 years from now along with many memories of that promise.
Geez, what a bunch of dolts. Oops. Better pay that water bill with that temporary Garbage Fee which doesn’t go toward garbage collection even though it’s named the Garbage Fee and it’s included on our water bills at a cool $88,000 a year to Illinois American for collecting it but who would ever dream up a tax that isn’t named for it’s purpose? Wait, the museum tax isn’t called a museum tax. oh oh.
So this is why Vespa joined the Blockers?