Fountain County looks at local tax

BY DENNIS BARTLOW

COVINGTON, Ind. June 29, 2009 08:35 pm

— Fountain County taxpayers could see a new tax by the end of the year, but the amount of total tax they pay may not change that much.
The Fountain County Council discussed Monday the impact of a Local Option Income Tax with Andrew Berger, legislative assistant with the Association of Indiana Counties.
“The council sooner or later is going to have LOIT whether this year or next,” said Council President Richard Klage.
The circuit breaker tax will be capped, and the county general fund will lose $21,362 in 2010 and $53,965 in 2011. School districts and cities and towns might see a larger loss.
“You have a problem,” Berger said. “You, as the county council, gets to make the decision.”
Berger outlined three possibilities.
-- Freeze the budget and fund any growth through income tax.
-- Raise income tax and give credit to offset the circuit breaker loss.
-- Add a public safety income tax for up a quarter percent.
To implement the third option, the council must approve one of the first options or a compensation of the first two.
“You have until July 31 to adopt LOIT for next year,” Berger said. “It would be in effect Oct. 1 and benefit next year.
Attica Superintendent Judy Bush and Southeast Fountain Superintendent Corey Austin said their budgets will be hit hard in transportation and capital projects.
“We will make adjustments,” Austin said. “It will impact us greatly.”
Klage said it is a bad time to raise taxes.
“In the last six months I have seen more empty houses in Covington,” he said. “I think this is a bad time to put another burden.”
Fountain County residents who work in Montgomery County are already paying a 1 percent income tax, which is going to Montgomery County. If Fountain County adopts LOIT, that money would switch to Fountain County.
“We are a bedroom community,” said Commissioner Walt Wilson. “We have people working in other counties. We need to keep it local.”
In business at a regular meeting last week, the council:
-- Approved an additional $55,000 for unemployment and $75,000 for out-of-county housing in the commissioners’ budget.
-- Approved an additional $142,549.40 in the assessor’s budget; $662.62 in the director’s salary in the Emergency Manage-ment budget; $13,000 for overtime pay in the E-911 budget; $120 for Law on Disc in the infraction budget; and $1,000 in maintenance and repairs in the county general fund for repairs to the roof at the health department.
-- Approved $529,779.51 in the cumulative capital development fund and $470,223.49 in the rainy day budget.
-- Heard Parke County Commissioner Jim Meece give a presentation in regards to forming a health insurance trust.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Fountain County Council will meet at 10 a.m. EDT Monday at the courthouse to decide whether to implement a Local Option Income Tax.