Someone needs to let the Ames City Council know that the third time is not always a charm. After two failed attempts, the council is trying once again to pass another local-option sales tax in Ames on Oct. 8. This would increase the 6 percent tax we have now to the state maximum of 7 percent. They just cannot take a hint that the community does not want to pay that extra penny per dollar.

The reason this sales tax is being proposed, however, is a valid one. The purpose is to create a new middle school for the community, and Ames Middle School really is a mess.

Duct tape holds down the carpet in areas, the halls are overcrowded and there is roughly one bathroom stall for every 50 students. These are just a few of the obvious reasons why a new middle school is necessary for the Ames Community School District. What the new school should entail and how the funds should be acquired are the debatable issues.

When originally proposed, the new Ames Middle School was to include an 800-seat auditorium, three gyms, a media center and an array of classrooms. Also attached to the school would be an aquatic center that would be open to the school as well as the public. This would include another three high school-sized gymnasiums, a climbing wall, an aerobic area and a pool area complete with water slides and lap pools.

The first question that pops into mind is: Do we really need all this? A better and bigger school is required, but water slides really are not top priority for a town full of middle-class suburbanites and financially struggling college students. Memberships to the Lied Recreation Center on the ISU campus are available, and pools can be used at the Ames Community Center.

The answer of how to pay for this middle school does not lie within the 1 percent sales tax increase, either. This proposition has been tossed out the window twice.

It seems clear that the majority of residents are not particularly interested in the idea. Some fear that once the school is paid for the council will not revoke the tax but will use the money for other projects. It could also potentially hurt Ames retail stores, considering in Des Moines that city’s wider selection of shopping outsets, and the fact that its sales tax would still be 6 percent.

Rather than this tax increase, a bond to build a new middle school should be considered. Although it would increase property taxes, it would ensure that once the middle school was paid for, the additional tax from the project would be over. Residents would then have the assurance that their money would not have gone to undisclosed ventures of the city.

With any luck, on Oct. 8 Ames residents will again be smart enough to vote down the tax increase.

Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Erin Randolph, Rachel Faber Machacha, Charlie Weaver, Zach Calef, Ayrel Clark.