County council halts food, beverage tax

The proposed 1-percent food and beverage tax to fund expansions of the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center will not go forward following about six months of investigation and public comment.

The Monroe County Council scrapped  the proposal because of a division in the community and on the Monroe County Council to responsibly go forward with the tax, Monroe County Council President Geoff McKim said.

The vote had been scheduled to take place on Sept. 10 at the city council meeting.
There were too many city officials and citizens who said they would rather work with Monroe County’s innkeeper’s tax first, McKim said, a 5-percent tax for people staying in hotels or motels.

Monroe County Council member Rick Dietz said there was a strong consensus among elected officials and the public that the possibility of increasing the innkeeper’s tax should be explored prior to using the proposed food and beverage tax.

“I think there are some elected officials who will find the innkeeper’s tax more politically palatable,” McKim said.”It is going to be popular because it isn’t local at all.”

However, a change in state law would be necessary to increase the county’s innkeeper’s tax, McKim said. If the innkeeper’s tax were increased from 5 percent to 8 percent, it would generate $1.2 million in extra revenue. The food and beverage tax would generate twice that amount, McKim said.

Because the revenue from a raised innkeeper’s tax would be less than the revenue from the proposed food and beverage tax, a more detailed analysis of projects would be necessary to move forward.

The expansion of the Convention Center was aimed to make an economic impact that could create jobs and entice visitors, McKim said.

“If we only do a minor expansion, it may not bring all those benefits, so there may not be a point,” McKim said.

Dietz said he saw a strong consensus that the Convention Center is a valuable community asset and that it does need to be expanded to meet current and future needs.

“I anticipate that there will be a strong effort to try to secure additional or alternative sources of funding for the expansion,” Dietz said.

Follow reporter Mary Hauber on Twitter @mary_hauber.