By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington and Normal should share their sales tax revenue according to a local group that suggests the two cities serve as one community.
The B-N Advantage Leadership Council made up of business, labor and government leaders recommends the two cities divvy up revenue simply based on population.
“People don’t really pay that much attention to where they shop or where they go to work,” chairman Paul Harmon said. “They live in one and they work in the other. They shop in one and live in the other. So the concept of sharing sales tax revenue based on the population of the two cities seemed to resonate with the group.”
Harmon said creating one pool of sales tax money could also lead to more collaboration on economic development and would prevent one community from using economic incentives to lure a business to move from the other.
“I sort of view this, if it can be worked out, as one more step in the two cities cooperating,” Harmon said. “(It’s) not a new novel concept, but on this particular item it would be a new approach.”
Harmon said Bloomington mayor Tari Renner and Normal mayor Chris Koos, who both serve on the 15-member panel, sought the group’s advice on the issue.
Harmon added the current sales tax split, 60 percent Bloomington and 40 percent Normal, reflects the current population split. He said the only concern would be if that were to change and give one community a higher proportion of revenue over the other.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is moving from Normal to Bloomington while Kroger is building a larger grocery store in Bloomington to replace the one across College Avenue in Normal.
The two city councils would have to endorse the measure.
Eric Stock can be reached at eric.stock@cumulus.com.
