Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton says he wants to pass his proposed sustainability tax increase within the next three months.
The city held its first public discussion on the proposal last night.
The half percent income tax would help fund local efforts against climate change.
Bloomington Council Member Matt Flaherty is the chair of the newly formed Climate Action Resilience Committee. He says community feedback will determine how the new tax money is allocated.
“Not just before any vote would occur but even afterwards and how funding is prioritized and allocated, those are all open questions that deserve and need public input to help shape the proposal," he says.
The city projects the tax could generate $8 million annually. Monroe County Republican Party Chair William Ellis worries about the effect tax will have on the county’s most vulnerable residents.
“We have people living pay check to pay check in Ellettsville and other places," Ellis says. "And we’re talking about raising wages, making competitive market and then if you all of a sudden hit their income, that negates that."
The next public input meeting is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers.
Approval of the tax and Sustainability Investment Fund would go to vote at the county-wide Local Income Tax Council.
Of that, the Bloomington City Council has a 58 percent vote share. The Monroe County Council gets a 37 percent vote share. Ellettsville has a five percent vote share. Stinesville does not have any votes on the council. Numbers of votes are based on where residents in the county are concentrated.
