Council hears $10–12 million estimate for 1% sales tax to fund school capital; members debate property-tax tradeoffs

City staff told council that a voter-approved 1% local sales-tax dedicated to school capital could generate an estimated $10 million to $12 million a year, with the caveat that some items (groceries and other essentials) are commonly exempted. "Ten to twelve million. That's what we conservatively estimate," the staff presenter said.

Staff emphasized that a successful referendum would permit the city to implement up to 1% and that implementation requires a subsequent local ordinance setting the rate and following a waiting period in code. Staff also flagged that the revenue comes from anyone who spends in the city, not only city residents.

Councilors pressed on what would happen if the referendum fails. One councilor gave an illustrative conversion, saying the schools' capital needs could require roughly an 8¢ increase on the real-estate tax rate if the sales-tax option is not adopted; council discussion also mentioned bonds as a fallback financing option. A councilor warned that the revenue-neutral calculation in state law can force the city to revert to an earlier baseline and thus "ignore inflationary pressures" for a large share of its revenue base, a dynamic that complicates tax-rate decisions.

Councilors asked staff for additional data and suggested coordination with neighboring jurisdictions and monitoring of county-level referendum activity. No final decision was taken; staff said they would return with more detail and that statutory timelines would shape whether a local ordinance could follow a referendum in time for implementation.