CROTHERSVILLE — A drop of good news was shared during the recent Crothersville Town Council meeting.
Clerk-Treasurer Danieta Foster said the state has eliminated the utility receipts tax. That means as of the August bills for July consumption, Crothersville Utilities customers will see a 1.4% decrease in their utility bill.
House Enrolled Act 1002 was passed earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly, repealing the utility receipts tax. Therefore, utilities had to remove the amount of the tax and adjust the rates and charges. That went into effect July 1.
Crothersville will notify customers of this change on their monthly bill.
The council approved the first reading of the ordinance amending the rates and charges and then OK’d suspending the rules to have the second reading to adopt the ordinance. The second reading was approved, too.
Also during the meeting, Tara Hagan, manager of municipal programs for Administrative Resources association, discussed a potential funding source for the upcoming water improvement project in the town.
To be eligible for money from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Crothersville would need to be part of a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.
A CEDS is the result of a regionally owned planning process designed to guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of an area or region, according to eda.gov. It provides a coordinating mechanism for individuals, organizations, local governments and private industry to engage in a meaningful conversation and debate about the economic direction of their region, the website states.
“You can’t really complete CEDS on your own,” Hagan told the council. “It’s going to have to be regional partners, and then once you get yours in place, have a conversation with EDA to have them help get strategies for your CEDS.”
Hagan said one possibility is entering a CEDS with Bartholomew County and possibly Brown County, too.
“We know Columbus City Utilities in Bartholomew County is starting to hear about EDA funding, as well, and they were starting to get interested, and they wanted to know how to go after that EDA funding,” she said.
CEDS run between $50,000 and $100,000, Hagan said.
“It would be something that you would encourage Jackson County to go after,” she said. “ARa can facilitate it. We would be a recipient on behalf of the region, and then we would likely hire out the planners who would complete the study. That’s up to you guys.”
Once the regional partners are established, an EDA representative would provide more guidance.
Hagan said Jennings and Lawrence counties already are part of different CEDS, but Scott County may be an option.
“We’re just looking at some other areas that maybe is something you guys can tag in with,” she said.