Review Finds Mistakes in Petition to Extend Local Option Sales Tax in Linn County

Fewer signatures likely should have been counted on a petition that led to public vote on whether to extend a 1 percent local-option sales tax, according to a review conducted by the Gazette.

The Gazette reviewed the original petition that resulted in the measure appearing on the March ballot. Even without those signatures, the petition still would have passed the threshold to get the measure on the ballot. The extension failed.

The newspaper found 405 more invalid signatures than what officials previously reported, which suggests flaws in the validation process by the Linn County Supervisors, the Gazette reported.

All told, the Gazette could not match 505 signatures to the voting record. The supervisors, who worked with the League of Women Voters, struck only 100 names from the petition. The petition needed 4,032 signatures, or 5 percent of Linn County voters in the last general election

If you don’t recall the tax, local residents wanted extend the 1 percent local-option sales tax, but voters the measure down.

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