City Council Submits November 8th Ballot Question to Local Voters.

10-19-2005

             At the City Council meeting on September 19, 2005 , the Council decided to place this ballot question before the voters on Election Day, November 8:  

          "Provided no general obligation bonds are issued to finance or support such utility, shall the City of Maquoketa, in the County of Jackson, State of Iowa be authorized to establish a Municipally-Owned cable communications or television system, telephone or telecommunications system (including video, voice, telephone, data, and all other forms of telecommunications and cable communications) Utility?"  

            This mailing is meant to address some questions about why this is being done.  

            1.)  Does the City have plans to construct an actual, functioning telecommunications utility?  No, there aren’t any plans to construct a municipally-owned telecommunications utility that will offer new television, internet, or telephone services.  

            2.)  Then, why is the City Council asking the public if it wants to create a municipal telecommunications utility?  Basically, large telecommunications companies (such as:  Mediacom, Qwest, Iowa Telecom, Frontier, Sprint, Cox Communications, and others) are trying to change State law to make it as difficult as possible for cities to form their own telecommunications utilities.  During the 2005 session of the State Legislature, these large companies were almost successful in changing the current law.  Before the law might be changed in 2006, the City Council felt that it should give the voters a chance to form a utility before it is too late to do so.     

            In fact, if these large telecommunications companies weren’t trying to change the current law, there would be little or no motivation for cities, like Maquoketa, to offer this ballot question on November 8.  

            3.)  Why are privately-owned telecommunications companies, like Mediacom and Qwest, trying to change the current State law regarding how municipal utilities can be formed?  Some cities in Iowa have launched their own municipally-owned telecommunications utilities.  In our City Council’s opinion, these companies are trying change the law to limit a consumer’s choices.   

            4.)  If the majority of voters vote “Yes” to authorizing the creation of a telecommunications utility, what would that mean?  A “Yes” vote would mean that the City has the legal authority to create a municipal telecommunications utility under the City Council.  A “Yes” vote would also give the City the authority to ultimately build its own functioning telecommunications utility if the Council feels that the existing telecommunications companies aren’t adequately serving our citizens’ needs.  But, again, there is no current plan to set up an actual, functioning telecommunications utility.  

            5.)  If the majority of voters vote “YES” to authorizing the creation of a telecommunications utility, does it mean that the City must construct an actual, functioning telecommunications utility?  No, in fact, there are several communities in Iowa that have passed votes to form telecommunications utilities, but have never built them.  Among the cities that have done this are:  Waverly, Webster City, New Hampton, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Bancroft, Milford, Sibley, Rock Rapids, Hull, Akron, Westfield, Onawa, Woodbine, and Danbury.  

            6.)  If the majority of voters vote “No” to authorizing the creation of a telecommunications utility, what would that mean?  A “No” vote would mean that the City cannot set up a telecommunications utility.  A “No” vote on November 8 would also mean that a similar ballot question could not be submitted to the voters for another four years.   

            7.)  In the wording of the ballot question, what is the meaning of the opening phrase:  "Provided no general obligation bonds are issued to finance or support such utility...  A “general obligation bond” is a form of public financing that is ultimately backed by the local taxpayers.  In this situation, if the majority of citizens vote “Yes” to a municipal telecommunications utility, general obligations bonds (or taxpayer-backed bonds) cannot be used to finance the utility should it ever be built.  The City Council wanted to give the public this assurance in the language of the ballot question.  In fact, the only way that general obligation bonds could ever be used would be if the voters passed a second or subsequent vote to allow their use.  

            8.)  Are other cities putting similar ballot questions before their voters?  Yes, in our area, for example, we’ve heard that the cities of Dubuque and Dyersville plan to put their own ballot questions before their voters to consider.  We are expecting that a number of cities in Iowa will be doing this in order to form utilities before the large telecommunications companies are able to change State law to make this more difficult.       

            9.)  What is “Opportunity Iowa” and does the City of Maquoketa belong to this organization?  “Opportunity Iowa” is a movement which is trying to organize cities to put ballot questions on their November ballots.  Ultimately, the leaders of Opportunity Iowa would like to work with cities to build actual, functioning telecommunications utilities.  The City of Maquoketa once belonged to this movement, but no longer does.  The City has no affiliations with any outside organizations.  

            10.)  What is “Project Taxpayer Protection” or “PTP”?  “Project Taxpayer Protection” is an organization that is campaigning against a “Yes” vote to the City’s ballot question.  In fact, this organization has already mailed some literature to our citizens to encourage this outcome.  

            Although PTP’s name suggests that its chief concern is our local taxpayers, it is funded by large telecommunications companies, like Mediacom and Qwest.   

            PTP’s “articles of incorporation” can be obtained from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.  These documents show that Project Taxpayer Protection’s initial Board of Directors consists of three Mediacom employees in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines.  

            As Election Day on November 8^th gets closer, local voters will have to decide how much credibility they’ll give to groups and individuals who advocate either a “YES” vote or a “NO” vote.   

            11.)  Should the City compete with existing private enterprise?  This is a valid question, and it is a question that our existing privately-owned telecommunications companies will ask Maquoketa voters to consider.  Again, the City has no plan to construct a functional telecommunications utility.  The City Council is simply trying to preserve the City’s right to form such a utility before the law is changed.  But, it is also true that a successful “Yes” vote would create the possibility that a municipal telecommunications utility could be built someday.  This is the main reason why the Council decided to impose the restriction against itself concerning the use of taxpayer-backed general obligation bonds as a source of financing.  Ultimately, the voters will have to decide whether or not they trust that the City Council will act in a financially prudent manner and in accordance with the best interests of their constituents.   

            12.)  Who can I call if I have further questions?  If you have further questions, you are welcome to call or email:  Brian Wagner, City Manager, 563-652-2484 or maqcityhall@caves.net