Officials will have to go back to the drawing board to find a way to complete funding to renovate and expand Hulman Center.
A proposed food and beverage tax for Vigo County was not included in the final state budget bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly, which ended its 2017 session on Friday.
State Sen. Jon Ford, R-Terre Haute, got the tax included in the Senate version of the bill but the House failed to agree on the provision.
“It's disappointing that we couldn't get the food and beverage tax,” Ford said on Sunday. “But we'll keep pushing ahead on the Hulman Center project, and we'll see what happens.”
Ford said he knew it would be a struggle to gain approval for the tax because Rep. Tim Brown, R-Linden, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, “just doesn't believe in food and beverage tax. There were nine communities seeking food and beverage taxes this year, and they all got killed in the budget.”
The Vigo tax was seen as a way to close a $12.5 million shortfall in local funding for the Hulman Center remodeling and expansion project, but Ford said, “We should be able to get it done … with other local sources or the financing options.”
In 2015, the General Assembly appropriated $37.5 million for Hulman Center, about half of the estimated cost of renovation and expanson.
Jon Marvel, president of the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board, created to oversee the project, did not immediately respond Sunday to a message seeking comment.