Central Iowa union leaders announced that they are opposed to the “Yes to Destiny” proposal at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. today at Machinists Hall in Des Moines. Union leaders believe the sales tax increase of one percentage point would benefit businesses at the expense of low-income homeowners and people who rent housing, said Don Brown, vice president of the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

His organization is planning to send members an information handout and encourage them to vote against the proposal on July 10.

The “Yes to Destiny” campaign is an attempt to increase the sales tax in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties. One-third of the additional tax collected would go toward mandatory property tax relief, one-third would be used as determined by each government and one-third would support regional attractions.

“We pretty much believe it’s going to impact the low-income households and workers in the three-county area more dramatically than it’s going to impact other people, and we have a long tradition of supporting a progressive tax system,” Brown said. “This is not a progressive tax system. It’s a tax shift in our opinion.”

Brown said research from the Iowa Policy Project showed his group that a homeowner with a $175,000 residence would get about a $110 reduction in property taxes, but would spend about $270 in additional sales taxes per year. In addition, many union members rent, he said, so they would not receive any property tax relief, while paying more in sales tax.