TIF (Tax Increment Financing) has by far caused our street and infrastructure destruction in many parts of town, and TIF needs to end. And the new monetary windfall from Marshalltown’s controversial speed cameras is providing proof that city council members as a whole have their priorities so completely wrong. Shame on all of you.

I am certainly not a fan of speed cameras, but I will say that every penny of this new revenue drivers pay should be spent on the city’s street repairs and full depth street replacements. And so should every penny of the Road Use Tax and the LOST tax by the way. It should all be earmarked for streets.

This is all free money that the city does not have to borrow and pay interest on and should be used for our terrible and disgraceful street conditions. There is no rationale at all for spending this money foolishly on boosting city payroll, artwork, pet projects or pipe dreams. Some of our younger and newer council members must be oblivious to the mass poverty in Marshalltown. They would rather blow this money foolishly and then borrow money for streets and pay huge long term interest on top of it. Many streets now need full depth replacements at huge costs.

I dare city hall to put this strictly to a Yes or No vote to see if voters want 100% of all this new money spent on streets and let them decide, and not some well to do city council members that seem to have grown up with a money tree in their backyard.

Streets should be the number one priority by far in Marshalltown, not new development. Period. Get your priorities straight, council, or maybe you should be voted out for those who put streets as the city’s first and top priority.