Local Option Sales Tax Voters Guide

Today, voters in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area, including Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Robins and Fairfax will decide whether to extend the area's one percent local option sales tax (LOST).

Voting Times: Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m 

Voting Location: Due to redistricting, many voting locations have changed. To find out where your location is, click here and type in your address.

Who Can Vote? All Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Robins and Fairfax residents who are eligible to vote.

What Are We Voting For? You may have read that the city of Cedar Rapids will be spending much of the revenue from the tax on flood mitigation, but Marion has its own, completely separate plan to improve roadways, sewers and storm drains, in addition to funding larger construction projects. Over the course of 10 years, the city of Marion is expected to collect an extra $54 million in sales tax revenue.

Was my explanation too confusing? Here is a sample ballot.

How Will LOST Funds Be Used in Marion? Broadly speaking, 70 percent of the funds that Marion would earn from the tax will be put towards street, storm drain and sewer improvements, with the latter 30 percent appropriated towards special construction projects. To see a full, 10-year breakdown of how the money will be spent, see the PDF file to the right.

Where Can I Learn More About LOST?

You can check out our coverage of Marion's LOST appropriations .

You can also see The Gazette's coverage here.