Galesburg City Council to consider increasing sales tax. Here's why
GALESBURG — On Monday, the Galesburg City Council will provide a first reading to an ordinance that would increase the city’s sales tax rate by 0.25%.
The council will not vote on the ordinance Monday but if the ordinance returns for a second reading and passes, the city’s sales tax rate would increase from 1% to 1.25%. City documents state the tax would become effective July 1, 2023, and bring in approximately $950,000 to the city in annual revenue.
The ordinance states that the increase would be in the “best interest of the City for furtherance of economic development; to provide additional revenue for infrastructure improvements; and to provide a budget neutral method of funding projects.”
The Galesburg City Council will vote on Monday whether to select the former Churchill Junior High middle school as the location of its proposed community center.
The agenda item for the vote on selecting Churchill states that, due to “the desire to maintain reserves, the City should consider a quarter cent sales tax increase to support the Community Center and infrastructure improvements throughout the City as identified through the survey. This funding strategy would result in new revenue and will not have an impact on current operations or programs currently funded.”
A study conducted by the Farnsworth Group and presented to the Galesburg City Council in September estimated that renovating Churchill for a community center would cost the city $6 million.
However, city documents state that the cost of renovating Churchill for a community center would cost the city an estimated $7.35 million.
The city of Galesburg last increased its sales tax in 2003 from 0.75% to 1% for “the purposes of promoting economic development,” Kelli Bennewitz, the city clerk, said.
The Galesburg City Council has spent the past many months debating the value and cost of creating a new community center. Council members in favor of moving forward with the project recently voted against holding a public referendum on the matter, as some argued the referendum would cause more delays.
During a Nov. 14 work session, the council held an unofficial 4-3 straw vote that showed council members Kevin Wallace, Dwight White, Jaclyn Smith-Esters and Sarah Davis in favor of Churchill being the site of the new community center over several other locations.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Raising sales tax in Galesburg? City Council is considering it
