Nine of 11 speakers at a public meeting held May 29 on a proposed countywide food and beverage tax spoke against it. The meeting was moderated by Monroe County Councilor Marty Hawk, Monroe County Commissioner Patrick Stoffer and Ellettsville Town Council member Dan Swafford.
Speakers raised numerous objections to the tax.
William Ellis, a Van Buren Township resident, questioned the numbers put forth by Mike McAfee, executive director of Visit Bloomington, during other public meetings.
McAfee stated many times in the past several months that research found convention attendees spend $230 a day on average. He said that an expanded convention center could bring $30 million in revenue to the county with 130,000 attendees per year.
Ellis went to the websites of Monroe County’s convention center and competitors to see how much business they were doing and how much came from outside their home counties. He said the numbers did not support McAfee’s numbers.
“You see the problem here?” he asked. “Because what they’re saying is, with this expansion, we’re going to have 700 events per year to bring in this income. My concern is, to bring in this, we need to capture out of town business and nobody in the state is even coming close to this.”
McAfee said that convention centers do not post all of their data publicly to prevent competition for clients. It was “competitive information.”
Another county resident, Richard Sanders, said the government should not use tax money on programs that are not essential.
“I don’t think the government should be in the business of creating demand for non-essential services,” he said. “Especially with a sales tax, which is more onerous, perhaps, for people who have less money to spend.”
Tom Mathieson, of Richland Township, said that the convention center was not unique in that it would create jobs and tax revenue.
“All businesses create new jobs and new tax revenue, but we don’t ask the public to fund them and that’s what you’re doing here,” he said, addressing county officials. “Find another way to do it. Don’t impose this tax.”
Others who spoke against the tax wanted to know when it would be eliminated, if at all, and questioned why private money was not available if expanding the convention center was a profitable idea.
Talisha Coppock, executive director of the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center, invited residents to look at the hard numbers at the convention center if they had questions.
“I do not believe that the average Monroe County citizen is going to recognize a significant benefit from the convention center,” said Lee Jones, Monroe County Councilor at-large.
Cheryl Munson, also Monroe County Councilor at-large, said she supported the tax.
“The convention center would have to be first and foremost for any financing to come from tax receipts, but there are other amenities allowed under the economic development projects,” she said.
“I’m going to vote the way my district wants me to vote,” said Hawk, who represents Richland Township. “I hear you loud and clear.”
“This benefits Bloomington, and I don’t see anything that comes from this that will benefit Ellettsville,” Swafford said.
No other Ellettsville Town Council members were present to offer their opinion. The Monroe County Council was limited to three members by law.
Residents are invited to comment at the next meeting of the Ellettsville Town Council on June 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the conference and training room at the Ellettsville Fire Department and at the June 11 meeting of the Monroe County Council at 5:30 p.m. in the third-floor meeting room of the Monroe County Courthouse.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.