The City of Bloomington is continuing to gather feedback about the proposed income tax hike for the Sustainability Investment Fund.
Mayor John Hamilton proposed the 0.5%t tax increase January 1.
READ MORE: City Calls For More Public Input On Possible Local Income Tax
Jim Billingsley addressed the The Climate Action and Resilience committee Thursday night, as a Monroe County resident who lives outside Bloomington city limits.
"I have no ability to vote for or against the mayor of Bloomington, and I resent his efforts to try and reach deep down into my pocketbook and extrapolate more money from me and my wife and our family," says Billingsley.
Billingsley and several other county residents are upset that their taxes could be raised without having an equal opportunity to vote.
"It’s my understanding that Bloomington holds the control over this tax and to me that’s taxation without representation,” Billingsley says.
The Local Income Tax Council, which is made up of the Bloomington Common Council, the Monroe County Council, and the Stinesville and Ellettsville Town Councils, is in charge of implementing this tax.
The tax council’s votes are administered based on population, and Bloomington holds 58 percent of the voting body. 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.
Other members of the public wanted to know where exactly the money will be going if the tax were to pass. Bloomington resident Ilana Stonebraker says that’s why she came to the meeting.
“I think that we should have a plan if this money will be going directly toward these things because we believe these are the highest impact things that we can think of," says Stonebraker.
Councilmember Isabel Piedmont Smith also sits on the committee. She believes narrowing the focus of the funding is a crucial component. Smith says she thinks the money could be better spent on transit.
“If you’re on the low-income side of the community then having free transportation that runs more frequently, that goes to more places, and that you don’t have to pay for," says Piedmont-Smith. "It’s a godsend.”
Piedmont-Smith says if the county has more free and available transportation, it can reduce the number of vehicles owned by families and offer the most economical options.
The next steps for the tax proposal have yet to be announced. Councilmember Matt Flaherty is chairman of the climate committee. He says depending on developments with theCoronavirus over the next few weeks, the city will decide when and where the next public forum will be held.
“We need the details well-ironed out before anyone votes on this,” Flaherty says.
Flaherty says people can go on the city’s website for more questions and information on the tax.
