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Bloomington Approves Tax Hike

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By Jenny Li

Story Published: Feb 11, 2008 at 5:05 PM CDT

Story Updated: Feb 11, 2008 at 9:54 PM CDT

Bloomington's City Council Monday night, by a six to three vote, raised the city's sales tax by a quarter–cent.

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The hike from 7–and–a–half to 7–and three quarter percent sales tax would help plug the city's budget hole.

The money will be used to rebuild cash reserves and cover the bond payment for the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
The Council also approved increasing the city's General Revenue Fund to 15%.

Mayor Steve Stockton said the city is "slowly but surely" resolving the city's budget problems
The city council is also studying a possible "ticket fee" to help plug the rest of the three–million–dollar budget shortfall.

"We're saying, if you enjoy the Coliseum and the Performing arts center we want you to help pay part of the costs, but we don't want to raise it too high because we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot if we make tickets too expensive," said Stockton.

The increase in the Bloomington sales tax would bring in an additional two and a half million dollars in revenue, which could be received as soon as October.

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