As Randy Erdman sees it, increasing local sales tax by a half percent in order to restore the lakes is well worth it. Even if it comes at a time when property taxes have increased dramatically under a school referendum and county courthouse project.

&uot;Is it ever the right time in life to do anything?&uot; Erdman asked. &uot;I think you have to act sometime. In these other communities that have this sales tax, many of them started amid recessions. Rochester started in 1982, Mankato started in 1993. Sometimes it isn’t so much about timing. Once we start, things will get better; they will improve.&uot;

Last Monday Erdman asked the Albert Lea City Council to approve sending a request to the Legislature asking for the clearance to put a local option, half-percent sales tax on the books. The council agreed to it.

The request, if passed by the state, would then come back to Albert Lea for a citizen referendum vote on the tax.

The tax proposes to raise $15 million over 10 years.

Though it is not likely that the state would get to the tax this year, some are holding out hope. There is a very slight chance of it getting attached to a bill this year, but some say that is nearly impossible.

Erdman said, &uot;If it can go this year, good. But if it doesn’t, at least we’ll be ready to go.&uot;

But the sales tax has its share of opponents.

Jim Hanson, the manager of the Albert Lea Airport, sells airplanes. He feels the tax is not a good idea.

&uot;I think there is always a misconception when people talk about quality of life being a reason a business comes to town,&uot; he said. &uot;The quality of life is good in Minnesota, but when King-Seeley Thermos left town and went to Georgia, I don’t think it was because of quality of life. When Marvin Windows, based out of Warroad, Minn. built a new factory, they went down to Kentucky. That move wasn’t based on quality of life, it was about taxes.&uot;

Hanson argued that sales taxes drive companies away from locating in Albert Lea. He also said it makes it harder for people who are in the sales business to compete.

&uot;In effect you are locking people out,&uot; he said. &uot;I think it would put ourselves in a hole, give us a disadvantage. Between the school taxes, and the county taxes we’re doing ourselves a disservice.&uot;

But proponents of the tax disagree, saying the tax doesn’t have a huge effect on people’s lives.

&uot;If you aren’t taxed on going to the grocery store, on the house you live in, the car you drive or the clothes you wear, I think that is progressive,&uot; Tony Trow, president of Destination Albert Lea, said.

Erdman challenged those who disagree with the sales tax.

&uot;If you can find a better way to fund the lake project, I say go ahead, but I don’t think you are going find a better way,&uot; he said.