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New Theater Proposal Expected on Fall Ballot

By Greg Bebermeyer

08/01/2014

(KNZA)--Hiawatha voters are expected to face a new sales tax proposal this fall for the construction of a city-owned movie theater.

A petition containing 261 signatures was submitted Thursday morning to the Brown County Clerk’s office seeking to place a revised proposal on the November 4th general election ballot.

County Clerk Debbie Parker says her office will now verify the names to make sure they have enough signatures. Parker says 190 valid signatures are needed. If they petition is deemed valid, she says the Hiawatha City Commission would then have to vote to place the issue on the November ballot.

Hiawatha resident Matthew Haws, who spearheaded the petition drive, says the revised proposal calls for a .375 percent sales tax for ten years, which would generate about $2.2 to $2.4 million. The cost of a new three-screen theater has been estimated at around $1.8 million. Haws said the extra funds generated by the sales tax would go into a capital account, to be used only towards future movie theater needs.

Hiawatha voters on April 1st defeated a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund the construction of a new theater by a more than 140-vote margin. It didn’t contain a sunset provision. The proceeds would have also been used for recreational and economic development purposes.

Haws said he believes the number one reason the original proposal failed was due to voter’s uneasiness about the never ending sales tax.

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Comments

KS_Referee (08/01/2014 9:38 AM)

Matthew Haws still expects other people to pay for his entertainment. He could watch movies in digital format as close as Seneca, but thats not good enough for him because he expects YOU to subsidize his expenses by having the theater in Hiawatha, rather than drive to Seneca, Topeka or St Joe.

KS_Referee (08/01/2014 9:42 AM)

Other than the military and taking money from people, name a single thing the government does efficiently and does well. If this proposal goes through, as soon as the newness of the theater is worn off, it will become a forgotten dump because no one will have a vested interest in guaranteeing it is run or maintained properly. If our local government cant even properly maintain the roads in this town, how are we expected to believe they will maintain a theater?

tea party (08/02/2014 7:58 PM)

I agree with everything you say in your comments, its funny how they keep shoving it down the throats of the voters at each election, I think the people have spoken after the April vote. They will only raise taxes to keep it open later when they start to lose money. If you want a theater that bad, privatize it, keep the government out of it, we are not Russia , we are the USA