The portion of the sales tax funding bonds for the the new stadium, Arena remodel and Saluki Way project is scheduled to expire in 2027. I would be willing to bet though, unless people start pushing for its expiration. The city will likely argue, as it did when the tax funding bonds for repairs at CCHS was due to expire, that it needed the funds from the tax and had already figured the revenue into its budget.
The argument made at the time for passing the sales tax increase was that the enhancements to the campus would attract more students and draw more people to campus to attend events in the new stadium and remodeled Arena, despite evidence that revenues do not increase when tax payer money goes to fund sportscapes and attendance at SIUC has trended downward for 3 decades. Still it will be easier for the council to argue it needs the money from the tax and vote to extend the ordinance that established it, rather than letting it expire and passing a new one.
People should start pushing for its expiration as soon as possible and prevent the extension of the ordinance. The Saluki Way Tax was pushed by a failed politician and proven plagiarist President of SIUC who insinuated that Carbondale was parasitical on SIUC. It is (and was) actually the other way around.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, the argument was that students would come to SIUC for Sports (not education). The person who proposed this tax presided over the gradual enrollment decline in SIUC. Don't be fooled again especially by the City council.