The Des Moines Register has been running quite a few stories about Project Destiny, a sales tax increase initiative that we will vote on July 10.

If you’re not familiar with the issue, there will be a vote to raise the sales tax from 6% to 7% for 10 years to both lower property taxes and fund projects to improve Des Moines and attract new people and business here.

I don’t want to get into the politics of a tax increase because this isn’t a political site.  Nor do I want to get into the name of this proposal–side note–why are all controversial bills shrouded into a name that makes you feel bad if you don’t like it?  Not that I do or don’t like this, it’s just funny, how can you say no to destiny?  Pretty clever political trick I think….

Normally I’d love to go on a rant about this issue, but I have seen the huge amounts of money being put into downtown Des Moines.  The development, infrastructure, and huge shift to move people into the center of the city is having a huge impact. 

People don’t move to an area that they’ll hate.  I graduated from Roosevelt almost 10 years ago and I hated Des Moines.  It was my hope to get out of here as quickly as I could.  I’ve since returned and the changes that have happened here in the last 10 years are nearly unbelievable.  Des Moines is turning into a fantastic place to live.  Many national magazines, such as Forbes, are taking notice of the changes here, and how this is a great place to bring your company.

Des Moines has great educational system, great work ethic, and the mid-western values that most of us will not even know about until we’ve left.  I’ve spent several years outside Des Moines and I’m telling you, we take the values and educational system here for granted, we really do.

So right now I’m torn about this issue.  I’d really love to see more money put into improving Des Moines.  Especially downtown Des Moines (as you might guess).  I am also very skeptical about voting to raise my own taxes, that goes against pretty much every cell of my body.

I do think that this is a very important issue, one that many won’t take the time to research and vote on.  By attracting more business and people to Des Moines, more development, improvement and fun things can be added here.  The better we make Des Moines to get people to move here, the better it will become when they do.

I’m of the opinion that Des Moines can really become a fantastic city.  Our close proximity to Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago may cause many to think we’re inferior.  No, Des Moines will never be Chicago, but we have many advantages, and many things that make us better than all 4 of our neighbors. 

So take some time and learn about Project Destiny.  I haven’t yet made my mind up, but I do think this is a critical issue for downtown Des Moines.  The more businesses and people that are attracted here, the more development and improvement can take place.

I really think the best way to make downtown better is to get more people to live, work, eat, shop and play here.  When we do that, more opportunities will come, and the lives of everyone will be improved.