DECC expansion.

I suspect that the DECC expansion project referendum will now pass. There was only a small amount of people at this rally however they will not need a lot of supportes as this is a special referendum and turn out will be very low. With a new group backing this project and Steve Sviggam endorsting the project I think it will pass.

I still am not in support of this tax and will vote no and encourge others to do the same. This tax will not be taken off the books once the expansion is payed off. Remember this was said about the extra sales tax when the DECC was first built.



Posted on Mon, Jan. 30, 2006
Rally for DECC referendum support draws about 150 people
BY SCOTT THISTLE
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A broad cross-section of Duluthians gathered today to show their support for a proposed increased to the city's restaurant food and beverage sales tax.
Voters on Feb. 28 will be asked to approve adding .75 percent to the existing 1.5 percent tax. The proceeds will be used to help pay the city's share of a $67 million expansion of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
Both the DECC and the University of Minnesota Duluth, which uses the DECC as home ice for its men's and women's hockey programs, also would help pay the local share of the expansion costs.
State political leaders, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and House Speaker Steve Sviggum, have said a citywide show of support for the tax hike would build support in St. Paul for the expansion. The state is being asked to finance $33.5 million of the project during the coming lawmaking session, which starts on March 1.
"One vote equals four," said M. George Downs before about 150 people gathered in the Great Lakes Ballroom of the Downtown Holiday Inn.
Downs, co-chair of the political action committee ArenaYes!, urged those in attendance to persuade at least four others to support the sales tax increase. He also asked them to break out their checkbooks in support of the PAC's efforts.
Mayor Herb Bergson and City Council President Roger Reinert also endorsed a "yes" vote, saying support for the tax increase was needed to win state political support for the project.
The project would add up to 200 good-paying jobs to the city's economy during the during the two-year construction period, Bergson said.
"For two years we are going to be putting milk and eggs on the table for 200 families, and that's a lot of bread," Bergson said.
So far, the campaign in support of the referendum was running on individual donations only, said Steve Greenfield, a public relations agent working with the PAC. The public can expect a relatively low-key campaign of newspaper and radio advertisements in the 29 days before the vote.
To date, opposition to the tax increase has been marginal, with only one group -- Lake Superior Socialist Action -- publicly criticizing it.
His group opposes the measure because sales taxes unfairly hit the poor, said Mike Rogge, a Duluth resident and member of Lake Superior Socialist Action.
"We are not opposed to expanding the Arena, but we don't think poor people should have to foot the bill," Rogge said. "On paper it doesn't look like much, but it would be a bitter irony if the people who are hit the hardest are the people who can't really afford to go to DECC events anyways," Rogge said.
Some type of flat-rate city income tax would be a more equitable way to pay for the project, Rogge said.

Source: Duluth news tribune, http://duluthnews.com