Itasca residents say ‘no’ to home rule

Itasca voters told village officials they don’t want them to have home-rule power.

With all 10 precincts reporting, about 55 percent of voters opposed the measure that would give Itasca more governmental freedoms.

Itasca leaders said home rule status would have allowed the village to collect roughly $900,000 in annual hotel tax revenue, which would offset its slumping sales tax revenue. Tax revenue has dropped from about $7.2 million to $4.4 million annually.