The Monroe County Council and the Monroe County Commissioners clashed Tuesday night over signing a proposed letter to lawmakers urging an exception to state law for funding of a new jail.
After an hour of discussion, the council did not vote, but some members made their position clear: they would not sign it as is.
The draft letter urges changes to Senate Enrolled Act 1 that commissioners say has restricted funding for the county’s long-planned justice complex.
SEA 1, passed earlier this year, limits counties to pledging no more than 25 percent of their local income tax revenue to bond-funded projects, and it requires the income tax revenue to be reappropriated each year by the county council.
“The requirement that LIT be reappropriated annually is something that the bond market is not going to feel great about,” commissioner Julie Thomas said. “It puts a lot of question marks over the ability to bond if you're relying on a council year after year to create that.”
The commissioners’ letter asks the state to either grant the county an exemption to the 25 percent LIT cap or allow a special purpose tax to fund the project, estimated to cost $237 million.
Supporters of the letter hoped to send it with signatures from county commissioners, county council, board of judges and the sheriff by July 11, despite the legislature being out of session until January.
Council members raised concerns about the speed and lack of transparency in the process of proposing the letter. It was not released to the public until after Tuesday night’s meeting, and some council members were wary about the possibility of a new tax.
“I don't see the need for the rush to send to the state something that we really don't even know whatwe're talking about right now because we haven't presented this to the public,” said council member Marty Hawk. “We're talking about one of the options was we're going to stick a whole brand new tax on you because, remember, if it's a special purpose tax, it's going to be in addition to the tax that is already being approved.”
Thomas defended the commission’s urgency, saying sending it now would give lawmakers time to consider options ahead of the next session.
“The problem is, if you postpone waiting for the ideal moment, the ideal moment will have passed,” Thomas said. “We don't want to dither. We want to get information to the legislators as soon as possible.”
Council member Scott Deckard said SEA 1 has unforeseen consequences that the county is facing now.
“We were tasked with the constitutional requirement here to make that jail, and right now, that's been stopped,” Deckard said. “We've been criticized a lot for not moving quick enough. Now incidentally they've tripped us and knocked us off the trike.”
Council member David Henry suggested using the month of July to finalize financial projections and work on a letter together. He said the month could be used to get the numbers in front of the public, which would improve transparency.
The commissioners responded that sending an initial letter doesn’t mean they can’t send another in the future in a joint effort with other counties affected by SEA 1. Council member Pete Iversen suggested the county create a coalition since Monroe County alone may not have enough sway with the general assembly to create change.
“I don’t know if it’s right to send it alone,” Iversen said. “It's got to be the right person at the right time in the right place with the right request. I personally, based upon what I've heard here, don't feel like the right people are making the right request.”
Eric Spoonmore, president of the greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, said during public comment that the letter caught him off guard.
“I regret that this has really kind of been a surprise to me,” said Spoonmore. “I consider myself a pretty informed person on local government, county government. I think it's important that we get this letter out to the public.”
He also stressed the link between economic development and local income tax growth, saying that requesting higher taxes should come with plans to increase the community’s tax base.
“It kind of underscores how important it is that we are investing in housing, that we are investing in job creation — that we are doing everything we can right now as a county to lean into economic development because of the importance of local income taxes that will be funding these types of projects and funding how county government will operate well into the future,” Spoonmore said.
Council members urged the commissioners not to send the letter, calling the process hurried and lacking collaboration.
The letter was supposed to be discussed at the June 25 county council meeting but wasn’t. Now, council members say they feel pressured to sign something neither they nor the public have had time to review.
“I really wish that things would not continue to come to council for a rush moment and a rush job and for us to do what we need to do so that we can go along and get along,” council president Jennifer Crossley said. “If we are trying to do something together… then I guess I would like for us to have a serious conversation and not just say, ‘Here's this letter, you got until Friday. Hope you can sign on to it.’”
