April 26, 2011: Easter Monday

It is back to the office, after enjoying the past Easter weekend with family and friends.

We learned today that 226 31St Street NE will be coming on the market July 1St for rental. The current tenants will be moving out at the end of June.

Do you have a property underutilized that would be good for a person or family to rent in the greater Cedar Rapids area? We may be able to help match you with customers in the area.

The property at 830 14Th Street NE is pending. We expect new tenants to move in at the end of the week. The two bedroom house at 1625 12Th Avenue SE will be available June 1St. The tenants have given notice to vacate.

At my Rotary luncheon at Noon, Mayor Ron Corbett spoke on the May 3Rd L.O.S.T.T. [PDF], an extension of the local option sales tax for infrastructure purposes. Four tenths of each cent will go for existing roads in the City of Cedar Rapids. The breakdown is as follows:

• Property tax relief (10 percent),


• Flood protection systems for the east and west side of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids (50 percent) and


• Existing road infrastructure (40 percent)

The Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors have endorsed the tax for Cedar Rapids. For more information on the local sales tax in Linn County, you can visit the County Auditor's site. For more information on the "yes" side of the vote, you can visit the following web site.

Talked to a prospect for a house for sale on the west side. We do anticipate some Executive Houses coming this Summer for Rent.

ttrco

Mayor Ron Corbett speaks to area Realtors on local economy, flood protection and upcoming May 3rd local option sales tax

On Wednesday, February 16, 2011, Mayor Ron Corbett was the program at the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors luncheon. Mayor Corbett gave a detailed presentation of the local economy aiming it at a Realtors prospective, the ongoing work on flood protection for both sides of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, how it will be financed, as well as reasons for the upcoming May 3Rd extension of the local option sales tax.

Mayor Corbett didn’t need a name tag at Statehouse - The Gazette
At noon on Wednesday, Corbett spoke to more than 100 Cedar Rapids area Realtors, telling them that Iowa lawmakers aren’t apt to help the city fund its flood-protection system unless city residents are willing to put some local dollars into the pot. Federal dollars for the system also will require local dollars, he said ...

After the Mayor's thirty minute presentation to Realtors, which may have served as a warm up to his scheduled State of the City address on March 2Nd, the Mayor took questions from the audience on a variety of subjects.

• Dredging
• Project Labor Agreements
• Questions on the local option sales tax
• Discussion of Federal funding
• Discussion on State funding
• The Mayor's visit to the State House this week on funding flood protection for Cedar Rapids
• Property tax vs. sales tax for funding flood protection and residential street repairs
• The options and powers of local government
• The term "urban myth" was discussed, regarding the use of the current LOST monies and charges monies have not been used as stipulated by the public measure
• What happens, if the LOST vote is not approved by the voters?

Clearly, the Mayor supports financing flood protection and additional street repairs with sales tax, as opposed to increasing property taxes on the community. It was a candid and strong presentation from Mayor Corbett.

ttrco

Next week, Realtors from across the State of Iowa will meet in Des Moines and make a visit to State House to speak to state lawmakers on issues that concern our industry.