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The town of Merrillville, after some protest but no surprise in the vote, now has a food and beverage tax.
The Town Council, with Councilwoman Rhonda Neal, D-1, absent and Councilman Leonard White, D-7, casting the lone “No” vote, passed 5-1 on second reading the 1% food and beverage tax at its Dec. 26 meeting. It also passed 5-1, with White once again dissenting, an ordinance establishing a receipts fund that will capture the money for disbursement in the budget.
Merrillville resident Don Koliboski, the former vice president for the Lake County Economic Alliance, spoke out against the tax, saying legislators created the tax “deceptively” by linking it to Jasper County in Senate Bill 1454. It will end up hurting many of the town’s small, service-oriented businesses, he said, because those business owners will end up paying the 1% while small service-oriented businesses in the adjacent communities of Schererville and Crown Point are “thriving.”
Council President Rick Bella, D-5, corrected Koliboski, pointing out that the businesses only collect the 1% tax from customers. That money will then go downstate and then be sent back to the town’s clerk-treasurer, where it’ll go into the receipts fund, he said.
“If this is passed, it will be hurting small businesses in the town of Merrillville,” Koliboski said. “It’ll attract small businesses to adjacent communities, which will then attract other property investments which go against what I pay in the town of Merrillville.”
The tax will take effect Feb. 1, and the estimated $1.8 million it’s supposed to generate will enhance parks and promote tourism.
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