There’s a lot of cautious optimism going on in the community task force backing the local option tax that voters will decide the fate of March 6. 

Community leaders Bob Mahaffey, Mary Chapman, Joe Gonzales and Christine Hensley said in a joint interview that they are seeing what appears to be significant support for “Public Measure A,” which would bump up the local sales tax by 1 percentage point to help pay bills for local governments. 

All are looking at offsetting property taxes with part of the sales tax money, with at least 30 percent of the countywide receipts coming from visitors. The rest would be divvied up among municipal needs and, in the county’s case, mental health programs. In Des Moines, the plan is to use the money for property tax relief, public safety, street improvements and neighborhood improvements.

The four Des Moines leaders (with a variety of experience in elective politics, education and police work) are co-chairing Neighbors for Growth and Public Safety, which has a $165,000 campaign going that uses call-in phone town halls, presentations at neighborhood groups and other diverse nonprofits, and a planned social media push to encourage support of the measure. The money came from individual and corporate donations. A 10-member executive committee leads about 30 volunteers running the task force.

Des Moines in particular has struggled to find new revenue sources when property taxes and fees can’t cover it all. Des Moines’ situation is worsened by the fact that at least 40 percent of the land in the city is tax-exempt; that figure was 28 percent when Hensley, now retired from the City Council, was first elected in 1993.

The sales tax is the main alternative — but Des Moines-area voters defeated a local sales tax in 1985, 1996 and, by the worst margin of all, in 2007 with 87 percent opposed. “We tried to be everything to everybody” in 2007, Hensley said. 

This time, the message is more tailored and so is the campaign. Knowing the vote total is likely to be low — a virtual certainty in any local election — the committee is using big data to focus on likely voters and making sure they get to the polls. Des Moines-based GPS Impact is helping target the message.

Instead of one overall area plan, local communities are coming up with their individual plans, such as a quality-of-life play in West Des Moines heavy on the outdoor recreation. 

Chapman said a key to the Des Moines plan is improving neighborhoods through work on streets and other infrastructure, and removing blight. 

This time is setting up a bit differently, Hensley said. The passage of a local sales tax in Warren and Dallas counties has left Polk County in an odd position, with businesses in some suburbs — such as West Moines and Clive — facing the prospect of charging two different sales taxes, depending on which county they are in, starting July 1. That would change if Polk County voters approve the measure. 

The March 6 date also would allow city managers and councils to certify their budgets in March knowing whether the extra revenue would be available. Hensley said it will be interesting to see how the new election laws requiring voters to identify themselves affect the flow of voting. (This year, you’ll be asked to show an ID; if you don’t have one, you can vote after signing an oath verifying your identity. Starting next year, no ID, no vote.)

The tax would mean $81 million in added revenue countywide. For example, Des Moines would receive an estimated $37 million or so a year, West Des Moines $7 million or so, and Urbandale a shade over $5 million. The county’s $12 million share would go to infrastructure, capital projects in unincorporated areas and countywide mental health programs. 

For more on the sales tax, see “The Elbert Files” on page 42.