All eyes have been on Mayor Foster’s $571 million infrastructure proposal and its chances of being passed by the City Council, which would have had to unanimously declared a fiscal emergency before approving the plan to go to the County.
After reports that the Council would not have unanimously declared a fiscal emergency, the Mayor has adjusted his proposal to make it more widely accepted, changing the tax used from a parcel tax to a special tax. The Press-Telegram’s Paul Eakins explains:
“Now, under the mayor’s new proposal, the parcel tax would be a special tax that restricts the money to infrastructure improvements within the actual measure on which the public would vote. Furthermore, the council won’t need to declare a fiscal emergency, although two-thirds will have to approve placing the measure on the ballot.
“The drawback of the parcel tax being identified as a special tax, at least as far as the mayor is concerned, is that it would require two-thirds voter approval instead of 50 percent.”
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor