What Taxes Will Indiana Increase to Nab the Bears?
Indiana Governor Mike Braun delivers his State of the State address in January. (Photo: Indianapolis Star)
If Indiana lawmakers pass a bill to create a new governing body to build a Chicago Bears stadium in northwest Indiana before their scheduled adjournment Friday, they will open taxpayers up to million in tax increases, a new state analysis shows.
A Fiscal Impact Statement for SB27 was posted Monday (akin to a Fiscal Note in the Illinois General Assembly) by the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency.
The new stadium authority created by the law would issue bonds to pay for the stadium construction. Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston told a committee last week the Bears had committed $2 billion for construction and Indiana taxpayers would be on the hook for up to $1 billion in costs.
The Northwest Indiana Stadium Board would be created “for the purpose of financing constructing, equipping, operating, and maintaining a capital improvement.”
Paying for the stadium is where the taxes and fees start to add up.
Lake and Porter Counties (Hammond is in Lake County, Porter is to the east) would be authorized to implement a new 1% food and beverage tax the agency estimates would collect up to $18 million each year.
“The actual amount of revenue in Lake and Porter counties would likely be greater to the extent the stadium project results in increased demand for food and beverages,” the analysis said.
The bill also doubles the Lake County hotel tax (known as an Innkeepers Tax in Indiana) from 5% to 10%.
The city of Hammond would also create a 12% admissions tax on tickets for events at the new stadium.
The LSA estimates the hotel taxes and admissions tax could create around $20 million in revenue each year.
“I don’t know if it has dawned on legislator or the public, who mostly get their news from Chicago, exactly what this would do to their taxes [in northwest Indiana],” said one Indiana political insider Monday. “When the previous governor raised the gas tax to pay for actual road construction, his base never let him live it down. You think they’ll like this?”
We mentioned the potential tax hikes to some Illinois lawmakers Monday.
“I can pretty much guarantee you Governor Pritzker would never sign off on a billion dollars in taxes for a pro football stadium,” one lawmaker said.
“If they want to overpay that badly, well, good for them,” said another.
The Indiana House would have to advance the bill by Friday before the end of the state’s spring legislative session.
No action on the PILOT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) bill under negotiations in Illinois is expected in committee this week, meaning Illinois will not have a bill finalized before the end of the Indiana session, something the Bears reportedly asked for.
