nice idea.it’s too bad it’s unconstitutional
It's a dumb idea and there's nothing the least bit unconstitutional about it. In the first several decades after the American Revolution, there were scores of different types of private money in circulation. There was nothing in the Constitution to prevent that.
It is considered illegal, though, to attempt to pass private money off as American legal tender. They're not doing that here.
It's dumb for two reasons. The first is that people are shopping in larger towns because they believe they find better value there: lower prices, more variety.
Local merchants must compete on those grounds or go out of business. The mere existence of a local currency doesn't change that. At best, it might serve as a sort of publicity gimmick which is fine to the extent that it works.
It's also foolish because it assumes that spending drives the economy. That's false -- saving and investing are what create economic growth. The creator of this currency doesn't want people to save it, in that, he's a typical Keynesian.
Cute idea that's tried over and over again and never works. Ithaca's a perfect example, they're just too dumb to realize it.