DES MOINES, IOWA -- Polk County officials admitted April 7 that the projected tax rate they have been using for the $132,000,000 bond on the proposed new courthouse addition was in error. On April 18 we exposed that the county is padding the ballot language for $5,000,000 more than their declared spending purpose. Bond legal counsel are quite often the ones who write the language used on the ballots. County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald has informed us that the county's bond counsel on this proposal is Ahlers & Cooney of Des Moines.
Proponents want us to believe that our courthouse is not big enough to handle the demands of our county. George Davey, chairman of CitizensForReasonableJustice.com decided taxpayers should have a look to see if this is true. A committee representative was instructed to put in a public records request, which included information clarifying this. County Auditor Fitzgerald's office has been prompt and thorough in response to our other requests.
But we also asked for the official square footage of our existing courthouse and a copy of their case-load projection, which is at the heart of the argument that future courthouse growth, is going to make our courthouse too small. This time we heard back from assistant county attorney Mike O'Meara.
They said we could have the records…for $1,205.00! This was far more than anything that Mr. Fitzgerald has charged us. They threw in 400 pages of paper, without calling us first, which our request shouldn't come close to generating and they say we have to pay first.
Davey said, "I find this demand more than ridicules, it is punitive and designed to not let taxpayers see those projections. What are they hiding?" Davey added, "I would urge all Polk county voters to call Susan Elliot, the Board of Supervisors' Project Manager for the proposed courthouse at 286-3128, and insist on seeing the current caseload and future case-load projections before they support this special-interest bond. Otherwise join us and Vote NO!"
###
