From the Northwest Indiana Times:
The decision on whether the Lake County property tax levy freeze is lifted, even if the county doesn't enact an income tax, is now in the hands of state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.
The Indiana House voted 97-0 Thursday for Senate Bill 585, which deletes a state law limiting revenue for all local governments in Lake County, also known as their levies, to their 2007 amounts until the county imposes at least a 1 percent income tax.
Charbonneau is Senate-sponsor of the measure and must decide whether to agree with that provision added Wednesday by the House after state Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, said the state shouldn't dictate to local governments which taxes they should assess.
If Charbonneau consents to the change, the measure will be re-approved by the Senate and then go the governor for his signature or veto.
Or he could send the legislation to a House-Senate conference committee where lawmakers from both chambers will devise a compromise version that must be re-approved by the House and Senate to go to the governor.
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Removing the levy freeze would add about $0.04 in annual taxes per $100 in property valuation starting in 2014. Local governments would not get any money to make up for the years their levies were frozen.
Property owners already paying the maximum property tax under the state's constitutional tax caps would see no increases.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates the property tax levies for all governments in Lake County would increase by $9.8 million next year without the levy freeze.
But $6 million of that increase would hit homeowners at the caps, resulting in just $3.8 million in new revenue, according to LSA.
Separately, the Lake County Council is set to vote to impose a 1.5 percent local income tax, which would remove the levy freeze automatically.
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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/senator-faces-decision-on-lifting-lake-levy-freeze/article_e9494f9b-d0a4-5042-9677-00afa7e0cc80.html
