"Revenues may (a) only be used for Eagle Park." That clause sits in Section 5 of Columbia City Ordinance 2023-12, the law that put a 1% food and beverage tax on restaurant meals in the city. Many Indiana communities with this kind of tax spend it on general tourism or economic development. Columbia City's version names one destination: the 56-acre former Columbia City High School site at 600 N. Whitley St.
So a brisket order on West Van Buren Street and a skateboarder on the north side of town are part of the same 20-year funding plan. Council's 2026 votes on an amphitheater for that site are the first time a big piece of that plan has been committed.
What the 1% actually touches
The Common Council held a public hearing on July 25, 2023, adopted the tax on August 8, 2023, and set it to run from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2044. The Indiana Department of Revenue lists Columbia City at 1% under code 9292A, effective January 1, 2024. This is a city tax, not a countywide Whitley County rate.
The ordinance taxes food or drink served by a merchant for eating on the merchant's premises or with the merchant's equipment. That includes:
- Food served by a merchant away from its own premises, which covers qualifying catering
- Food sold hot or heated by the merchant
- Items the merchant combines from two or more ingredients and sells as one item
- Food sold with merchant-provided utensils, plates, cups, napkins or straws
The city's public FAQ says groceries and prepackaged foods are not taxed. On a $40 dinner, the tax works out to 40 cents. The FAQ cites a Baker Tilly forecast of roughly $400,000 a year. An AI-generated summary of the September 22, 2026, council meeting reports a newer estimate of $458,000 a year and says actual receipts appear to be running above it. No audited annual total has been published in the sources available.
West Van Buren Street got bigger dining rooms this summer
The places collecting that 1% changed shape this year. 1897 BBQ moved into the former Van Buren Event Center at 301 W. Van Buren St. and held its grand reopening on June 26, 2026. The night included music bingo and a live band. The new space has more seating, room for private events and a dance floor.
A block east, The Junction Cafe & Home Decor had moved to 207 W. Van Buren St. by mid-July. The larger space has more seating and more room to shop. Columbia City Connect's July 11 story said an expanded hot-food menu was waiting on a kitchen hood and fire-suppression system. That detail ties to the tax, because heated food is one of the categories the ordinance covers.
On the square, owner Bernardo Velazquez announced The Egg Spot at 105 S. Main St. and planned breakfast, lunch and dinner service. He hoped to open by August. Its online listing still shows two different sets of hours, so call ahead before planning an evening there.
Tonight, October 2, is the First Fridays season finale, "Fall in Love with Downtown," from 6 to 9 p.m. on the square. It includes live music, pumpkin painting and a pie-eating contest, with "Halloweentown" showing at 7:30 p.m. on the courthouse lawn. Columbia City Connect also paid for ten new historic-district signs, which the city installed near downtown's main entrances in September.
Three limits the money has to clear
The tax money can't be spent anywhere in the parks system the city chooses. Section 5 sets three conditions on top of the Eagle Park requirement:
- It can pay for land, playground and sports equipment, and building or improving facilities at Eagle Park, and it can be pledged to bonds or leases for those purposes.
- It cannot pay for staff.
- It can be used only "where other funding sources are not available."
The third condition explains why the park's first phase looks the way it does on paper.
What already stands at 600 N. Whitley St.
Whitley County Consolidated Schools donated the old high school property to the city. Phase 1 cost a reported $1.1 million. Schenkel Construction was the contractor, and Hunger Skateparks built the skatepark. Grants carried much of that phase. Reports give different amounts: WANE reported a $600,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant in 2022, and later coverage cited $700,000 from Indiana DNR under the same program. No public record reviewed shows food and beverage tax money paying for any of the finished amenities.
Here is what is open now:
| Amenity | What's on record |
|---|---|
| In-ground skatepark | Grand opening May 17, 2025, organized by Columbia City Skate Park Advocates |
| Pickleball courts | Four courts, part of Phase 1 |
| Family swings | Trellis-style swing structure, part of Phase 1 |
| Walking path | Finished as part of Phase 1 per Schenkel |
| Public Wi-Fi | Extended to Eagle Park, per the 2026 State of the City |
In his March 13, 2026, State of the City address, Mayor Ryan Daniel called the skatepark a "new and highly used" amenity in 2025. The old cross-country trail behind the park had become overgrown by August 2025, and the Park Board approved a cross-country team service project to reopen it. City parks are open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., but recreation in unlighted areas is limited to dawn through dusk. As days get shorter this fall, that means earlier evenings on the courts.
The amphitheater's 2026 paperwork
The amphitheater is where the dining tax takes on its largest commitment. The project goes back to the 2020 master plan. Council minutes from January 27, 2026, name Meyer Najem as the selected build-operate-transfer company. The Post & Mail describes a two-sided design: a larger stage, a smaller performance space facing Whitley Street, and terraced seating.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| March 13, 2026 | Mayor sets August 2027 as the target for a first performance |
| June 30, 2026 | WANE reports hopes to break ground "this fall" |
| July 14, 2026 | Council unanimously approves the lease, Resolution 2026-25 |
| September 14, 2026 | S&P rates $6.28 million in lease rental bonds 'A,' with completion estimated for September 2027 |
| September 22, 2026 | Resolution 2026-31 approves the guaranteed maximum price, subject to bond proceeds, and caps the bond sale at $8 million |
Cost figures differ depending on the source and when it was written. The Post & Mail reported a conceptual estimate of $5 million. S&P puts construction at just over $7 million, with grants covering the rest of the project costs. The September 22 resolution approved the guaranteed maximum price on the condition that bond proceeds come through.
Where dinner money fits in the amphitheater math
The city set up a building corporation that owns the property and leases it back to the city. Mayor Daniel told WANE this structure lets the city work around normal municipal debt limits. In the July lease discussion, annual rent after completion was estimated at $630,000 to $634,000. The public lease notice caps rent at $485,000 a year during construction and $770,000 a year after completion.
Compared with the $458,000 annual tax estimate, the July rent figure suggests restaurant tax money would cover about seven of every ten rent dollars. Other city revenue would cover the rest. S&P says the rent is backed by city general revenues, including food and beverage tax and cumulative capital development money. If those fall short, an ad valorem property tax on property in the city is the backstop, subject to Indiana's circuit-breaker caps. The first rent payment is scheduled for July 15, 2028.
The mayor has been clear about what he intends:
"Let me just make it real clear. We are not raising a property tax for this, and we're not raising an income tax for this. This is primarily funded through the food and beverage tax."
He also told WANE the city is looking at grants and partnerships, including possibly selling naming rights to the venue. The property tax backstop is standard protection for bondholders. It does not mean a levy is planned. In practice, steady dining receipts in town are what keep the backstop unused.
What the 2020 plan still shows past the stage
The February 2020 master plan by Jones Petrie Rafinski covers far more than an amphitheater. It shows a garden and art promenade, playgrounds, a sledding and nature-play mound, a pavilion, multiuse and youth fields, restrooms and concessions, high and low ropes courses, river overlooks, and a 78,300-square-foot recreation center. Local reporting describes the final phase as woodland trails on the site's east side connecting Eagle Park to Morsches Park. The city FAQ describes the full buildout as a $50 million effort over one to two decades. None of those later pieces is funded yet. The tax that could help pay for them runs through December 2044.
The next parks event on the calendar is the ticketed Mother Son Halloween Carnival on Friday, October 30, from 6 to 9 p.m., with hay rides, dancing and games. Tickets are sold at the Eagle Park office.
Big public projects like the Eagle Park amphitheater tend to come up when people in Columbia City think about what their homes are worth, and that is a conversation we're glad to have with real numbers. Morken Real Estate Services is led by a state-certified residential appraiser who prices homes against what is actually built and funded, not what is still on a plan. Request your home valuation and we will walk you through it.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
