Ellettsville Town Council member William Ellis told state lawmakers in a hearing Wednesday that the town is being unfairly cut out from money collected for the Monroe County Food and Beverage tax.
“We’re getting no value for this money going in,” Ellis said. “There’s already special legislation written to make Bloomington a stakeholder and Monroe County, but where is any mention of any other municipality?”
House Bill 1080 would allow revenue generated in Ellettsville from the Monroe County Food and Beverage Tax to go back to the town. It currently goes to the city of Bloomington or Monroe County for economic development.
The bill, authored by Republican state representatives Peggy Mayfield and Bob Heaton, is in the House Ways and Means Committee.
Three people spoke in favor of the bill: Jill Thurman, director of the Greater Ellettsville Area Chamber of Commerce; Josh Levesque of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce; and Ellis.
Ellis said Ellettsville needs the money for public transit and to accommodate a growing population.
He said the town used to receive federal funding that allowed elderly residents to use non-bus transportation services, but since the town is now deemed an urban area, it no longer receives that funding.
Ellis said Bloomington Transit would be the next option, but to extend service to Ellettsville could cost over $200,000 that the town does not have.
Three people spoke against the bill: Jeff Cockerill, an attorney for Monroe County; Patrick Tam of the Indiana Restaurant Lodging Association; and Jody Madeira, a Monroe County Commissioner.
Madeira agreed that Ellettsville needs to address public transit but added that the county food and beverage tax is supposed to be narrowly focused.
“Monroe County’s FBT funds must be used to finance, refinance, construct, operate or maintain a convention center or conference center or unrelated tourism and economic developments,” Madeira said.
She also said the bill, in its current form, could possibly violate Indiana’s constitution by allowing special legislation that does not provide a clear formula for designating certain dollar amounts to Ellettsville.
