LEBANON — Tourism improvement districts have become popular in other states, and during this session of the Indiana General Assembly, lawmakers will decide if Indiana communities will be able to create them locally, an effort that tourism organizations have been advocating at the statehouse for several years.
The measure would give communities a new tool to promote local attractions and generate targeted funding for marketing, infrastructure and other tourism-related needs.
"I think the big part is awareness, right?” Mel McMahon, the owner of Indiana Gifts in Lebanon, said. “People don't understand how close Lebanon is to Indianapolis. "
Her business, Indiana Gifts, has been on Main Street in Lebanon since 2023. She is excited for growth in Boone County, and she hopes the downtown square becomes a draw for tourism in the future.
"If we could build that awareness of what Lebanon is and let people know it's only four minutes off the interstate to get to our square,” McMahon said. “Let people know about our historic courthouse. Let people see all these great businesses that have started small and grown here. People are going to want to come back. They are going to want to stay, they are going to want to eat here, they are going to want to find an Airbnb."
Those are some of the ways a tourism improvement district could be used.
House Bill 1144 would allow a district to be created as long as 50% of business owners within the proposed district sign on. It would be up to those businesses to create an assessment fee that would benefit the district.
A district would begin with a petition that must include a detailed plan with boundaries, financing methods, business classifications and a management structure. The local legislative body would decide whether the district could be created.
"It gives them a complete separate funding mechanism for them to assess themselves, create a plan on what they want to do, and move forward with that plan based on what the assessment is able to collect and what they are able to do,” Carrie Lambert, the Executive Director of the Indiana Tourism Association, said.
Only businesses that would benefit from the assessment would take part, and no business would be forced to opt in. The Indiana Tourism Association says surrounding states have been able to create economic development opportunities with this new funding mechanism.
"We've seen communities that have used it for transportation needs in a heavily trafficked area or heavily visited area, we feel like that could be something,” Lambert said. “We've seen for marketing. So, additional marketing for a segment or portion of a community, a city or a town. "
The assessment fee could be a flat rate or a percentage of a purchase; details would be decided by the businesses creating the district. The bill passed out of committee unanimously. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
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