From the Northwest Indiana Times:
Lake County's top solid waste district official said he wants all new income tax revenues to be directed to a fund for projects or operating expenses, not employee pensions.
Lake County Solid Waste Management District Board Chairman Dave Hamm made that statement Wednesday, following controversy over using the money for a proposed pension plan for the district's professional staff.
Hamm said the district is set to receive an additional $249,000 in 2014, courtesy of the newly adopted local-option income tax.
Hamm also said a committee of board members had proposed using all of this new revenue to fund pensions for the district's professional staff, including Executive Director Jeff Langbehn.
Langbehn earns more than $100,000 per year to manage the daily business of the district, including divvying up grants that encourage communities to recycle and running education recycling outreach programs for school children.
Some county officials, including Commissioner Mike Repay, blasted the pension proposal Tuesday, saying the new tax revenues were not intended for such purposes.
On Wednesday, Hamm said he directed Langbehn to move the income tax money into a contingency fund of the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget rather than being earmarked for the proposed pensions.
"This should not go to pensions, period," Hamm told The Times on Wednesday. "I want this to go into a contingency fund from which board members can decide how it is used."
Hamm said this would allow the money to be spent, as needed, on projects, recycling grants or operational expenses, all of which would require board approval.
The committee that proposed using the income tax money for employee pensions is slated to give a report Thursday to the full board, Hamm said.
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