Council sets special meeting for Sept. 9, looks to vote on local income tax increase a week later

File photo: Bloomington mayor John Hamilton.

File photo: Bloomington Transit bus.

File photo: Transportation and pedestrian advocate, Greg Alexander

At Bloomington city council’s regular Wednesday meeting, president Steve Volan called a special meeting for next week, on Sept. 9, to consider a quarter-point increase to the local income tax across Monroe County.

The special meeting was scheduled at the request of Bloomington mayor John Hamilton, who wants the council to vote by Sept. 16.

Depending on the form of the legislation that’s put in front of the city council on Sept. 9, the nine-member group could vote the same night to impose the quarter-point income tax increase.

The intent appears to be: Wait until Sept. 16 for a vote on enactment of the tax. But if the proposal is introduced on Sept. 9 as a resolution, instead of an ordinance, a vote could be taken that same day, without any exceptional action by the council. [Added at 1:45 p.m. Sept 3, 2020: According to city council attorney, Stephen Lucas, the public hearing associated with the vote has to be noticed 10 days in advance. So the vote could not be taken, unless public notice of a hearing were given 10 days earlier.]

An increase of 0.25 points would generate around $8 million annually across the county, of which about $4 million would go to Bloomington.

What would the tax pay for?

Dating back a couple of years, one push for increasing the county income tax has come from advocates looking to expand public transit. When Hamilton suggested a 0.5-point local income tax increase on New Year’s Day this year, funding for public transit was a prominent part of the mix. Hamilton’s State of the City address in late February sketched out the possibility of increasing Bloomington Transit’s budget by 40 percent.

Increasing BT’s budget by 40-percent works out in round numbers to the better part of $4 million, or about half of the amount that the 0.5-point increase would have generated.

Public transportation no longer appears to a significant part of the mix for the 0.25-point proposal, an adjustment that came from the mayor in mid-July.

During public commentary at Wednesday’s meeting, pedestrian and public transit advocate Greg Alexander asked that the revenue from increased local income tax revenues be put towards public transit and sidewalks.

Alexander told the council to “make clear that you’re focusing the new income tax on transportation, specifically on the bus system—and gosh wouldn’t be nice if it was a little bit for sidewalks, too.” Alexander added, “Because transportation is a key, uncontroversial function of government.”

Alexander wrapped up by saying, “I just urge you to make it really clear what you want to spend the money on. And please spend the money on bike, pedestrian, bus—especially bus transport.” Continue reading “Council sets special meeting for Sept. 9, looks to vote on local income tax increase a week later” →

Analysis | From transit, to climate, to basic services: A changing trajectory for Bloomington’s income tax proposal

An op-ed written by Bloomington’s mayor, Democrat John Hamilton, published Friday morning in The Herald-Times, tries to make a case for Bloomington’s city council to enact a quarter-point increase to the local income tax.

The Friday morning op-ed by the mayor resurfaced the idea of a quarter-point local income tax increase, after a six-week period of public silence on the part of city councilmembers.

That six weeks is measured from July 16, when Hamilton re-introduced the topic of a local income tax increase, after first announcing the idea on New Year’s Day—as a half-point increase.

Even if the headline to Hamilton’s op-ed reads, “We all have a decision to make,” it’s elected representatives, like city councilmembers, who will take the deciding votes.

Adding a quarter point (0.25) to the local income tax rate would generate about $4 million for Bloomington and a little more than $4 million for Monroe County and Ellettsville governments.

Possible timing for the city council’s action would include a first reading at a special meeting on Sept. 9. That could be followed a week later by a second reading and final vote on Sept. 16.

Hamilton’s op-ed attempts an argument for quick city council action by raising the specter of possible future moves by Indiana’s Republican-dominated General Assembly: “The state legislature may well reduce or eliminate our ability to accomplish new revenues by next spring (they already changed the voting requirements earlier this year).”

For Hamilton, the preservation of essential government functions is an important reason for the tax rate increase. That’s based on the final sentence of his op-ed: “This prudent, proposed investment is needed to meet the daunting challenges that we face in common, and to sustain the basic services on which we all depend.”

The timing issue, when combined with one stated purposes for the tax increase, makes for a pitch that goes something like this: The city council needs to act now, in case the state legislature takes away Bloomington’s ability to pay for basic services.

Two separate issues stand out as dubious in connection with that pitch. One is the question of urgency. The other is the question of purpose. Continue reading “Analysis | From transit, to climate, to basic services: A changing trajectory for Bloomington’s income tax proposal” →

Bloomington mayor renews call for local income tax increase, reduces ask from 0.5 percentage points to 0.25; says 2021 budget for sworn police officers will decrease

Bloomington’s mayor John Hamilton has renewed his call, made at the start of the year, for the Bloomington city council to increase the local income tax.

cropped Hamilton Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 3.51.31 PM — Screen shot of Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s July 16, 2020 Facebook video. (Image links to video.)

Such a tax would apply to all residents of Monroe County.

The additional revenue from the income tax would still go towards climate action and sustainability initiatives. But the 0.25-percentage-point increase suggested by Hamilton on Thursday is half the 0.5-point increase that Hamilton had proposed on New Year’s Day.

Another highlight from Thursday’s message from the mayor, which could be overshadowed by reaction to the income tax proposal, is an indication that recent calls to “defund the police” have resonated with the mayor at least a certain degree.

From the mayor’s Thursday speech: “Our budget for 2021 will propose significant changes in the police department, including reductions in funding of badged officer positions and increases in non-badged positions…” Continue reading “Bloomington mayor renews call for local income tax increase, reduces ask from 0.5 percentage points to 0.25; says 2021 budget for sworn police officers will decrease” →

Bloomington councilmember on amount, timing, spending, oversight of possible tax increase for climate action: “All the things we’re talking about…are open questions.”

The climate action and resilience committee of the Bloomington city council on March 11, 2020. From left: Dave Rollo, Kate Rosenbarger, Matt Flaherty, and Isabel Piedmont-Smith.

Annotated Single Bar Makeup of Monroe County LIT

Ilana Stonebraker, who recently moved to Bloomington Tippecanoe County where she served as a Democrat on the county council, addresses the climate action and resilience committee of the Bloomington city council.

Daniel Bingham, who ran for Bloomington city council last year, addresses the climate action and resilience committee of the Bloomington city council.

Bloomington city council’s climate action and resilience committee, a four-member subset of the council, convened a meeting Wednesday night to hear feedback from the public on a possible countywide increase to the local income tax.

About three dozen people attended, maybe a third of them Indiana University students, for whom attendance was a class assignment.

Based on the statutory framework for the county tax council, a simple 5–4 majority on the Bloomington city council would be enough to enact the tax.

The size of the increase that was floated on New Year’s Day by Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, was 0.5 points. That would bring the total amount of local income tax paid by county residents to 1.845 percent.

But the amount of the increase, according to committee chair Matt Flaherty, is an open question, like nearly every other aspect of the proposal—including the timing of a vote by the Bloomington city council, constraints on expenditures, and oversight mechanisms. Continue reading “Bloomington councilmember on amount, timing, spending, oversight of possible tax increase for climate action: “All the things we’re talking about…are open questions.”” →

Tax increase forum | One table says: Spend climate action money directly to benefit low-income people

Notes from the “finance and economic equity” table. Meeting at The Mill, March 5, 2020.

“Lift the people up. Once you’ve got a sustainable model that is working for the people at the bottom, then you can have my 50 cents.”

That’s what Patrick Cortese, an educational publisher, told a Bloomington city official last Thursday night. The occasion was a community meeting about taxes held at The Mill, a downtown co-working space.

Cortese was talking about the idea of increasing the county’s local income tax to pay for climate action initiatives.

The 50-cent figure comes from the amount of the proposed tax increase, which would raise the existing tax by .05 points. That works out to 50 cents for every $100 dollars earned by a wage earner in Monroe County. Continue reading “Tax increase forum | One table says: Spend climate action money directly to benefit low-income people” →

Monroe County councilor on possible local income tax increase: “This was not anything proposed by the county.”

Monroe County councilor and president pro tem Kate Wiltz.

Monroe County councilor and council president Eric Spoonmore

Monroe County councilor Marty Hawk, the sole Republican Party member on the seven-member council.

Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, made a New Year’s Day announcement that he wanted to see an additional 0.5 percent in local income tax collected countywide. Hamilton wants to spend the extra portion of tax money allocated to Bloomington on climate action.

Under the current state statute, Bloomington’s city council has a 58-percent voting share on the county’s local income tax council. So a five-vote majority on Bloomington’s nine-member city council could enact the extra 0.5 percent of local income tax on all county residents. The voting shares are allocated based on population.

The mayor’s proposal hasn’t received air time at two regular meetings and two work sessions held by the Bloomington city council so far this year.

In contrast, county officials had a lot to say about the local income tax proposal at Tuesday’s first county council meeting of the year. They didn’t take any formal action. Continue reading “Monroe County councilor on possible local income tax increase: “This was not anything proposed by the county.”” →

Bloomington’s mayor pitches half percent countywide income tax increase to generate $8M annually for climate action

From left: councilmember Kate Rosenbarger, planning services manager Beth Rosenbarger, councilmember Matt Flaherty, and councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith.

Councilmembers Dave Rollo and Susan Sandberg.

Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton.

A proposal to increase the local income tax (LIT) that’s collected in Monroe County by a half percent came from Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, after swearing-in ceremonies for the city’s 11 elected official were complete on New Year’s Day.

The half percent increase would bring the total income tax levy to 1.845 percent from the current total of 1.345 percent. It’s estimated to generate about $8 million for allocation by Bloomington’s city government and another $8 million for Monroe County government officials.

Hamilton wants the tax to be enacted by the local income tax council (LITC) sometime in the next six months. It’s not not yet clear what, if any, deadlines might need to be hit to ensure that new LIT revenue would appear in local coffers as soon as possible. Continue reading “Bloomington’s mayor pitches half percent countywide income tax increase to generate $8M annually for climate action” →