The Allen County Commissioners and the Allen County Council have sent this letter to Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and members of Fort Wayne City Council:
April 1, 2013
Dear Mayor Henry and Members of the Fort Wayne Common Council:
As fellow elected officials, we certainly understand the difficult choices you are facing as you look to deal with the City of Fort Wayne's anticipated financial problems in 2014. Providing the services your constituents want and need while costs rise and revenues decrease has become extremely challenging for government entities in our state.
However, as you continue to discuss the proposals recently submitted by the mayor's Fiscal Policy Group, we as the elected leaders for Allen County wish to remind you that the decisions you make will have an impact on all of our residents. This is especially true in the case of a proposal to raise the local option income tax.
Regardless of the amount of the increase, such action would leave our constituents who live in unincorporated portions of Allen County with little or no representation on the matter. They would be paying the same increase as those who live within the city limits of Fort Wayne, yet would fail to receive all of the benefits and services associated with the increase.
We respectfully request that you thoroughly examine all methods for reducing expenditures and controlling costs before implementation of any income tax increase. We would welcome the opportunity to have a dialogue with you about this matter before any final decisions are made.
Sincerely,
The Allen County Board of Commissioners
Linda K. Bloom
Therese M. Brown
F. Nelson Peters
The Allen County Council
Robert A. Armstrong
William E. Brown
Thomas A. Harris
Darren E. Vogt
Larry L. Brown
Roy A. Buskirk
Kevin M. Howell
