By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com

And in both towns, the leaders who approved the tax are hoping residents will see the value of an additional revenue source for long-overlooked city projects.

But the two cities have taken dramatically different routes to get here. Wood River tried a city sales tax just two years ago, and it was defeated, 163-106. A retry has been in city officials' sights ever since.

Aurora's, on the other hand, was introduced by a committee of residents after a petition campaign that ran for barely more than a month.

Here's a look at the history and what's at stake in the towns:

A grassroots effort

The citizens' committee that's bringing Aurora's sales tax to the ballot has only been in existence since January, but the issue's roots go much deeper.

The Aurora City Council has tossed around the idea of a local sales tax for several years, said Mayor Marlin Seeman, but the process that led to this ballot issue began about three years ago, when the city began an extensive study of its recreational facilities.

The study was launched after residents approached the council with their concerns about the city's parks, fields and pool, said Bruce Ramsour, a city councilman and chairman of the committee that conducted the study.

After a citywide survey and town hall meetings, the study was released in 2006. It revealed residents' dissatisfaction with a decades-old pool, non-regulation tennis courts and a lack of baseball and softball fields.

The study laid out a wish list of a new aquatic center, ball fields, tennis courts, trails and a fitness center, Ramsour said. But two things were missing: land and money.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago, when a group of residents, Friends of Recreation, or FOR, decided that a sales tax would be an ideal way to begin to make that wish list a reality.

Needing 175 verified signatures to put the tax on the ballot, the group gathered 278 in a 10-day drive, said Sue Mitchell, the group's chairwoman.

The group's petition, for a 1-percent tax that would go entirely toward parks and recreation and would expire in four years, was unanimously approved by the city council this week. It's estimated to bring in about $400,000 per year.

Mitchell and Ramsour, the liaison between the city council and the group, said they've seen almost no negative reaction to the tax.

"The community agrees that we're lacking in those areas and we need some improvements," Mitchell said.

If the tax is passed, a new committee would be created to oversee the funds' disbursement, Seeman said.

As for the land obstacle, Ramsour said potential sites are being discussed for recreation improvements, though he said he couldn't comment further.

"Once the money is there, I think the land will be there, too," he said.

Seeman said he didn't anticipate that a tax increase would lead Aurora residents to shop in area towns like Grand Island more often because most other towns already have a sales tax and local businesses' prices are competitive.

"We've got both good retailers and good customers who will continue to shop at the stores they love right here in town," Seeman said.

Take two

The last time Wood River officials tried a local sales tax in May 2006, it was stopped cold.

Almost immediately, Mayor John Webster and other officials were talking about a second try in two years, as soon as it was legally possible.

The message from residents was clear: The city hadn't designated a specific purpose for the tax, and they wanted more direction.

Lee Nielsen was one of those adamantly opposed to the measure for just that reason.

"it was more or less, 'Just send us the money and we'll find some way to spend it,'" he said.

The tax, and the prospect that the city would try it again, was one of the main reasons Nielsen ran for city council that fall, winning by a single vote.

This time around, he's one of the sales tax's most outspoken proponents, even helping mail out letters from the city promoting it.

The difference? This tax has a specific purpose, one Nielsen helped shape.

Forty percent of the tax, which is estimated to generate $50,000 to $80,000 per year, will go toward property tax relief, and the other 60 percent will fund improvements to parks and streets.

Both Nielsen and Webster singled out a resurfacing of Ninth Street downtown as a top priority, though both mentioned that they'd like to see parks improved as well.

Webster said the streets improvements were the intent of the first sales tax, but the city wasn't specific in the formal ballot resolution.

"We understood what it should be used for, but it wasn't clear to the public," he said.

The two men said they didn't expect much impact on local businesses because of how common sales taxes have become, but they stressed the necessity of the projects the sales tax would fund, particularly on Ninth Street.

"It really, really desperately needs to be done," Webster said.