Iowa Interest Groups Vie For Municipal-Net Votes

[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
On November 8, 30 communities in Iowa will vote on the creation of municipal broadband utilities. Backing “yes” votes is OpportunityIowa, a non-profit group closely allied with Fiberutilities of Iowa, a company that wants to build city telecommunications utilities. It estimates that cities mulling the issue represent 10% of the state’s population. The referenda would only approve the concept of a local utility. Actually building a city system to deliver video, Internet access and other services would require a second public vote to issue general-obligation bonds to pay for the system, supporters said. General-obligation bonds, according to state law, require a super-majority approval vote of 60% of voters. OpportunityIowa claims support from officials including Gov. Terry Branstad and former attorney general Bonnie Campbell. The "nays" are led by Project Taxpayer Protection, backed by dominant local cable provider Mediacom. They argue that local taxes should be spent on public safety and business development -- not be spent on risky projects such as telecommunications businesses.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6281546.html?display=Policy
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