As Porter County Council members were reeling Tuesday night over a series of projections of needs for additional county spending, former councilman Erik Wagner, a Democratic candidate for an at-large seat, lobbed a tax discussion at them.
He asked about a potential public safety income tax that could be imposed by municipalities that are themselves strapped for cash as police and firefighter salaries and equipment costs rise.
“To me, that kind of goes against what you guys are here for,” Wagner told the council. If the municipalities pass the income tax, it would exclude the voice of residents outside those municipalities. “I just don’t think it’s right that the two cities in the county and a couple of towns get together and the rest of the county loses representation,” he said.
Councilman Andy Vasquez, R-4th, said he opposes the tax. “We have to look at it. We can’t just go ahead and do it,” he said.
Council Vice President Ronald “Red” Stone, R-1st, said the county needs to look at all its spending needs. “Before you pass any tax, you have to look at figures and roll it out to the public,” he said. That would take far longer than three months to accomplish.
The county is looking at requests for about $3.5 million in new money for roads, $500,000 over each of the next four or five years to upgrade information technology infrastructure, and a big jump in the cost of providing ambulance service, he noted. “We’re looking at some money that’s going to have to be spent throughout the county,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things to talk about and do,” Stone said.
Even if the county commissioned consultant Baker Tilly to do a financial study, that would take months, not even counting the discussion, he said.
“Once you pass the tax, it’s there. It’s forever,” said Councilwoman Sylvia Graham, D-At-large.
Council attorney Harold Harper said he plans to put together a summary of the law regarding the public safety income tax to give everyone a better idea of what they’re looking at.
If the municipalities pass the income tax, it would apply to the entire county, said Councilman Andy Bozak, R-At-large.
But then the county would still be starved for money for other purposes, Stone said. “From the county’s perspective, there’s a lot more to take into consideration than just public safety,” he said.
Stone proposed increasing annual revenue from the county foundation put together to invest the proceeds from the sale of Porter Hospital. That would give the county some breathing room as it looks at options for meeting long-term needs.
“This is really going to be a Band-Aid until we figure out how we can get our heads around this,” he said.
Council President Mike Brickner, R-At-large, said he would be hard-pressed to raise an income tax with all that money sitting around.
The county hasn’t raised the property tax rate or income tax rate, in years, Graham noted.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.