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true true true

Bloomington Mayor Wants Tax Increase For ‘Recovery Forward’ Investments

By Joe Hren

Posted July 17, 2020

Mayor John Hamilton

(Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton says the city needs additional revenue through the next decade to invest in what he calls climate justice, racial justice, and economic justice.

Hamilton outlined a number of issues during a Facebook Live presentation called ‘Recover Forward’ on Thursday.

But he’s still pushing for a local income tax increase as he announced in this year’s State of the City Address.

In February, Hamilton rallied for a 0.5 percent increase to the local income tax for sustainable economic development. Now he's suggesting a 0.25 hike to fund critical ‘Recovery Forward’ investments through the decade.

"If we say that racial and economic justice are critically important, then we need to put our money where our mouth is. We cannot achieve dramatic improvements without new investments: in housing, in job training, in our social safety net, in equal opportunity,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton again pointed to Bloomington’s low tax rate saying there’s fiscal room to grow, even during ’times of economic pressure.’

The county-wide Local Income Tax Council would have to approve the tax increase. The Bloomington City Council has a 58 percent vote share on the Council. The Monroe County Council gets a 37 percent vote share. Numbers of votes are based on where residents in the county are concentrated. About half of the proposed increase goes to county government.

READ MORE: City Calls For More Public Input On Possible Local Income Tax

Hamilton also says the city has four months of financial reserves built up. He’s asking city council to spend $8 million of reserves over the next 30 months to protect basic city operations and to help during the pandemic.

The plan leaves a three month reserve by the end of 2022. The state recommends setting aside at least a two month financial reserve.

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