Discussion of establishing a sales tax sharing agreement for Bloomington and Normal will slow down over the next couple of weeks, according to Town of Normal Mayor Chris Koos.
"Bloomington council has been very clear. They want to have a public discussion at either the 13th or 20th meetings (of June)," said Koos.
During Sound Ideas, Koos told WGLT's Mike McCurdy the group he created with Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner has not delved into the structure of what an agreement might look like and he said he was disappointed that numbers from the City of Bloomington finance department have been released showing Bloomington would be at a $640,000 disadvantage in a sales tax sharing agreement.
"We haven't even had those kinds of discussions in the working group," said Koos. "It absolutely has to start from a point of parity and equality. We know that. We understand that. No one is asking the City of Bloomington to give Normal $600,000 they don't deserve. It's ludicrous."
He also says some council members have expressed concern they've not been part of the process. Backing off will allow the concept to "settle in." He said he expected the two councils would eventually meet in a joint session to discuss the issue.
"At the end of the day that's what will happen. It will be a joint meeting," said Koos. "But I think there are some ideas that still need to be worked out. I know people are doing research on what other communities have done."
During a Sound Ideas interview on June 1, Town Manager Mark Peterson indicated such agreements between communities are rare. Koos said the working group has found a handful.
"We've seen it done at the county level in North Carolina. The City of Long Beach, CA has an agreement with a neighboring city for sales tax sharing. St. Paul-Minneapolis has kind of a hybrid sales tax sharing which is really aimed at poaching businesses between the two communities," said Koos.
Koos thinks the agreement can encourage the city and town to work together more closely on business attraction and economic development without worrying which community lands a business or opportunity. Such agreements can also keep one community from luring away a business from the other community.
Koos said if the agreement moves forward, the Metrozone, a sales tax sharing zone on Bloomington and Normal's far west side, would be dissolved. He also said he expected the sales tax sharing proposal to be resolved this fall, one way or another.
