By: Donovan W. Mann – donovanm@977thebolt.com
Humboldt County, IA – A common and important tax in Humboldt County is set to expire in a year and will require a special election this year to renew.
The Local Option Sales Tax, commonly referred to as LOST, in Humboldt County is going to expire in June of 2021. In order to maintain the use of this important tax, the county and cities in Humboldt County will have to hold a special election in the fall of 2020. County Auditor Rice helps explain what LOST is and why a special election is required.
She says that L.O.S.T. is an additional tax upon the sales tax already in place. The actually amount of the tax is determined by individual cities and counties. This is not a new tax; it has been collected in Humboldt County since 2001. Each city in the county currently collects this tax.
L.O.S.T. is often used to help pay the cost of infrastructure and projects such as street work. For example, the city of Humboldt will be utilizing L.O.S.T. as part of their large scale street project this year. Without L.O.S.T. other taxes, such as property tax revenue may need to be increased.
A special election is required to renew L.O.S.T. across Humboldt County because a certain amount of the population is required to vote on the matter. Because public measures can’t be placed on general elections a special election is needed.
At this time there is no confirmed date on when the special election would take place. The next available date for a public election would be September 8.