The city of Bloomington kicked off a series of public discussions on a proposed tax hike that will fund sustainability issues in the future such as climate change.
READ MORE: Hamilton Calls For Income Tax Increase To Kick Off 2020
Grassroots conservative activist, Bob Hall, was one of 100 or so attendees at the event. He says the city should not have the right to raise taxes.
“I don’t think it’s going to make a difference in our climate. A lot of our climate changes are based on natural occurrences and I don’t see how spending public money is going to make any difference.”
Mayor John Hamilton says under the proposal income taxes will increase by 0.5% to provide $160 million that would be split between the city and county over the next decade.
The money would go into what is being called a Sustainability Investment Fund.
Sura Tala supports the tax increase because she says it will raise awareness about environmental issues.
“It’s going to get people thinking about it because once it hits their purse, they’re going to go, well what is this? And they’re going to either decide to do something or not do something. I think it will kind of motivate them.”
Councilman Jim Sims says the city council supports the tax, but they want more information and community input.
“Most people don’t want to pay more taxes, let’s just face it. But when you see the need on what we’re talking about with climate change and some economic development. When you educate people, I think you have to let them know what’s in it for them.”
The next chance for the public to learn and talk about the issue will be Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the city council chambers.
