Howard County commissioners express support for higher innkeeper's tax

Notably, the legislation supported by the commissioners would give the county council the power to approve capital improvement expenditures by the Kokomo/Howard County Convention and Visitors Bureau related to the tax increase.

The CVB receives innkeeper’s tax funding, which is utilized for tourism-based spending. As acknowledged by local officials and State Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo), who would carry the legislation, the tax increase from 5 to no more than 8 percent would help fund a new hotel/convention center in Kokomo.

The proposed legislation reads that “in the case of an expenditure payable from the tourism capital improvement fund, the specific project for which the expenditure will be made has been … recommended to the county fiscal body by the commission; and approved by the county fiscal body.”

The legislation, however, also proposes that the county council may allocate and appropriate up to $275,000 for “incidental” capital improvement spending by the CVB “that may be expended on a project without obtaining the specific approval of the project from the [county council],” a process commissioners say lines up with current operations.

“In reviewing the legislation, it looks like everything is in order from where we stand in county government and from the standpoint of the appropriate approval processes for how tax dollars are spent, but yet at the same time giving the CVB an opportunity…to run their day-to-day operations as they currently are,” said Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman.

“The thing that I really like about this legislation is it changes nothing for the CVB as to how they currently do their business. They get to continue on the way that they are, but it does enable us to bring some additional tax dollars into our community, being paid by people who are coming to visit our community, whether it’s for pleasure or business.”

At the meeting, Wyman also expressed support for the idea of constructing a hotel and convention center, which he called “one of the whole purposes of coming up with this legislation at the Statehouse.”

Karickhoff said he’s been asked to carry enabling legislation that would allow the county to raise the innkeeper’s tax. The county cannot adopt the tax increase unless the Indiana General Assembly first passes a special Howard County innkeeper’s tax statute.

Karickhoff wants to see a consensus from the Howard County Council, county commissioners, Kokomo Common Council, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight and the CVB.

Previously, Karickhoff has said that if an agreement is not reached, he will not file a bill at the Statehouse. The deadline for filing House bills is Jan. 10, according to the General Assembly’s online calendar.

So far, the county council and commissioners have expressed public support for innkeeper’s tax legislation, specifically the newest, or Dec. 20, version of the bill, in part through a statement released by Howard County Attorney Larry Murrell.

City officials, however, have argued that the county’s actions are at odds with previous legislation agreed upon by all parties in early December.

In a previous interview, Goodnight referred to the innkeeper’s tax controversy as “work release déjà vu” in reference to the county council voting down a work release facility in July before approving it in November.

“The part that drives me crazy about what they’re proposing now is this is in conflict with their own resolution that they’ve already voted on. This is number three,” he said.

“They keep moving the football, and we keep going to try to kick it and keep landing on our back,” he added later.

Goodnight, who said the city would at some point support a form of innkeeper’s tax legislation, later referenced what he sees as a power grab by some in county government.

Others have argued that the county council shouldn’t be able to make decisions on projects that have been headed by city officials and are likely to be developed within city limits.

“There are people in county government, and I won’t name and it’s not all people in county government, but there are people that want control of things but no responsibility or accountability,” he said. “But they want the control, and we all witnessed it with work release.”