HOUSING TIF

FOOD AND BEVERAGE TAXES

• SB 37 would sunset all existing food and beverage taxes, require new and highly detailed reporting requirements on all food and beverage taxes, and proscribes standards by which future food and beverage taxes will be considered by the General Assembly focusing on tourism and quality of life projects.
• Aim opposes this bill because the reporting requirements are unnecessary and onerous, the sunsetting of existing taxes provides a lack of fiscal certainty for the communities that have them, and the standards in the bill for future taxes tie the hands of future General Assemblies.
• SB 37, authored by Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton), passed the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy committee on Tuesday with a vote of 10-1.

MVH FUNDING

• SB 74 would allow snow removal services and supplies to be included in the definition of preservation for the purposes of the restrictions on motor vehicle highway (MVH) funding that comes from the state to cities and towns to fund road and street departments. This means that snow removal can be paid for with the restricted portion of the MVH funding that is reserved for construction, reconstruction, and preservation of local roads.
• Aim supports this bill because it provides welcome additional flexibility for how local road and street departments spend their state money to focus on the most important local priorities.
• SB 74, authored by Sen. Scott Alexander (R-Muncie), passed the Senate Appropriations committee on Thursday with a vote of 12-1.

ANNEXATION

• SB 219 would remove the ability of municipalities to initiate annexations. Only voluntary and super-voluntary annexations would be allowed were SB 219 to pass into law.
• Annexation is a valuable tool for growing communities because it allows us to grow our service footprint along with the tax base that provides for those services. Aim opposes SB 219’s attempt to further limit our ability to grow and develop through annexation.
• SB 219, authored by Senator Jim Buck (R-Kokomo), passed the Senate Local Government committee on Thursday with a vote of 6-4.

ADVANCED PAYMENTS

• SB 317 allows cities and towns to provide prepayments or deposits for goods and services which is currently disallowed under Indiana law. Large prepayments over $150,000 would require insurance to guarantee public funds.
• SB 317 represents one of Aim and ILMCT’s long-standing operational initiatives. Local units have long been at a disadvantage with other purchasers by being unable to place deposits on goods and services, but this problem has become worse recently as high demand for contractors have led more to require deposits to secure contracts.
• SB 317, authored by Sen. Andy Zay (R-Huntington), passed the Senate Local Government committee on Thursday with a vote of 10-0.

“[HB 1349] is a ground up initiative. Our members have reached out in droves about support for [outdoor refreshment areas]. As we think about quality of place, we think about quality of events and bringing people together in communities.”

– Jenna Bentley, Aim Government Affairs Director