The County Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $8.2 million on new felony courtrooms, bond payments, police radios and other items, all part of the county's annual appropriation of county economic development income tax, or CEDIT, dollars.
The $8.2 million amount is about $500,000
less than what the county expects to receive in CEDIT revenue this year, Andy
Kostielney, president of the Board of Commissioners, said. That surplus will
remain untouched, he said, in case of emergency.
The appropriation, which passed by a vote
of 8-0, includes about $1.5 million to renovate parts of the first and second
floor of the County-City Building, formerly the county jail, into four new,
ADA-compliant felony courtrooms. (The county plans to appropriate another $1.5
million in CEDIT money toward the project next year, for a total of $3
million).
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The CEDIT rate in the county is 1 percent,
up from 0.8 percent in 2009, when the county and the city of South Bend elected
to increase it to counteract the negative effects of the economy and property
tax legislation on local tax revenue.
The County Council next meets at 7 p.m.
July 10 inside council chambers on the fourth floor of the County-City Building,
227 W. Jefferson Blvd.
