Sales Tax Redux

The Grundy Economic Development Council and Grundy County Chamber of Commerce and Industry are hosting a meeting and presentation regarding the proposed County School Facility Tax (the proposed sales tax increase which I have previously written about here and here) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22, in the board room of the Grundy County Administration Center.  The address is 1320 Union St., Morris.  The public is welcome to attend this meeting.

The meeting will feature a presentation from representatives of Stifel, Nicolaus, an investment banking firm based in St. Louis, Missouri.  They, of course, will tell everyone that they are doing this out of the "goodness of their hearts" and have "no financial interest" in seeing a sales tax increase pass.  I find that hard to believe, when they make their money by helping school districts to float bond issuances, and there will be a lot of money to be made on those if this sales tax passes in Grundy County.  Mark my words, if the sales tax passes, and Grundy County schools float bonds based on the anticipated revenue from this sales tax, you will see Stifel, Nicolaus and their ilk collecting handsome fees from Grundy County school districts.

An additional side note:  the County School Facility Tax has been defeated twice in neighboring LaSalle County (the second time around the percentage opposed was greater than the first time around).