Opinion ID: 2631179
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 1989 increase in the rate of levy

Text: In 1989 the city council again addressed the Dillingham sales tax. [8] The city sought to increase the tax rate from three percent to five percent by passing Ordinance 89-03. Because the ordinance was an increase in the rate of levy of a sales tax, Dillingham held the statutorily required public vote to ratify the tax. [9] The voters approved the increase. McCormick objects to Ordinance 89-03 because he claims that the city misled voters by referring to the existing sales tax, which he claims the council repealed in 1977. McCormick posits that because Dillingham failed to fully inform[ ] the voters, the election results were invalid. But because we conclude that Dillingham had a valid sales tax prior to the 1989 vote, McCormick's argument rests on a flawed premise. Moreover, the results of the ratifying vote demonstrate that the voters were aware of and approved the Dillingham sales tax. [10]