A development entity is urging the Bloomington and Normal City Councils to talk about a sales tax revenue sharing agreement. The leadership of BN Advantage is endorsing the idea discussed recently by Mayors Tari Renner and Chris Koos.
Paul Harmon is the Chair of the BN Advantage Leadership Council. Harmon says there are only a few things that cause problems between the two cities.
"This is another step in ending one of the things that cause the two cities to compete with each other and not always to a real economic advantage and that is to give incentives to businesses that will be large retail generators and therefore large sales tax generators," Harmon said.
Harmon said now is a good time to consider the issue because of the possible mechanism to balance the share of sales tax revenue each municipality receives.
"Sharing sales tax on the basis of the population of the two cities. Currently 60-40 is the ratio between Bloomington and Normal. Currently, that is about the same ratio as the sales tax. So, it seems like it is a concept that fits the current reality of the time," Harmon said.
Population and sales taxes may change over time. Harmon said the cities know there has to be an adjustment mechanism in case the balance shifts. Harmon said the census could be such a mechanism every ten years. Special censuses could also work if significant changes happen in the middle of a decade.
Harmon said Bloomington and Normal would also have to negotiate whether future development imbalances that change the sales tax ratio would be a reason to get out of the agreement.
He said Bloomington and Normal remain distinct entities with their own govenmental cultures and ways in which citiizens interact with government. But some things are just the same.
"Let's face it, as an economic unit they are one. And the sales tax issue is part of the economic side of this," Harmon said.
BN Advantage is led by six founding organizations: The Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, McLean County Chamber of Commerce, McLean County Regional Planning Commission, Bloomington Normal Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority, and Connect Transit.
