Brandenburg council tables tax ordinances

More than 100 people were in attendance to hear the Brandenburg City Council’s decisions on two ordinances: one that would introduce an occupational tax and one that would introduce a restaurant tax. 

The crowd cheered their approval as Mayor David Pace announced that the council had voted to table the two tax ordinances to allow for further discussion.

Pace said after discussion with a committee formed to review the ordinances, the restaurant tax was kept at its proposed rate of 2 percent, but a requirement for a business to turn over their books to the city if their financial figures were reviewed was removed. The occupational tax was amended to have a zero percent rate for 2025 while figures were reported to evaluate the tax’s impact, after which the council would have the option of implementing a tax at a rate of one-third of a percent in 2026. Pace said the committee tried to balance the city’s financial needs with citizen concerns.

“We tried to alter some of that to fit some of those questions that we had, and we did appreciate the input we received after the meeting, the input we had during the meeting,” Pace said. “We tried to take that and go forward with it.”

Many of the citizens that spoke against the taxes expressed their concerns with the financial impact on small businesses and Brandenburg residents. El Camino Co-Owner Carla Bravo said area restaurant owners should be brought in to discuss solutions.

“You do need to raise funds,”  Bravo said. “I understand that, but why at the expense of the local business owners of the community that serve these people? Why at our expense? I just ask that you give us an opportunity to talk about this before you make a decision today. Know the impact that it’s going to have, not just on the restaurant owners but the consumers and on this city, because you will lose business.”

Meade County Chiropractic and Sports Rehab Owner Bridgette Brown-Scheible said she had concerns with the impact of the occupational tax on both employers and employees.

“I understand we need more money,” Brown-Scheible said. “Charge me as the business owner a higher business fee, because then that benefits me on my taxes. Don’t penalize the people that have stayed in the community to work for me when there’s much higher paying jobs outside of Brandenburg.”

The council will pick up the ordinances for discussion at their January meeting.