A Lake Superior Court judge will rule in coming weeks whether the Hobart can join a lawsuit to end a property tax levy freeze under attack as strangling local government in the county.
Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider said she will take under advisement Hobart's request to intervene in a suit first filed a year ago by Daniel Murchek, assistant county police chief and president of Lake County Police Association Local 72, and Robert Klasner, of the county Fraternal Order of Police. The men argue Lake County is being singled out by the state for a tax freeze that has forced police and firefighters to make cuts that sacrifice public safety.
Deputy Attorney General Jess Reagan told the judge Thursday she opposes Hobart entering the suit, saying it would open the door to other Lake towns and cities joining and complicating a resolution of the issue.
Schneider said she needs to research the constitutional issues at stake before ruling and setting the matter for a trial.
Legislators, who believe Lake County is too reliant on taxing property, passed a law six years ago freezing the total amount of money local government can tax property owners in any one year.
That ended an annual escalator local cities, towns and county government could claim in tax revenue tied to the rise in personal income across the state.
The law would only allow the county to resume higher tax collections if its officials adopt a local personal income tax on residents and workers. County officials have refused, because businesses would be exempt from such an income tax.
Lake is the only one of Indiana's 92 counties without a local income tax.
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