Brown County residents have overwhelming rejected a property tax increase for an upgrade of the southern Indiana county's outdated courthouse, leaving officials in the popular tourist destination pondering the future of the nearly 130-year-old building.
The final tally on petitions submitted for the proposed $6.5 million bond project was 182 for and 1,457 against, with opponents logging eight times the votes of supporters.
County Clerk Beth Mulry supported the project in part because of crowded conditions and a lack of document storage space in her courthouse office in Nashville. The county seat about 50 miles south of Indianapolis is a rustic tourist town where visitors flock each fall to see the colorful foliage of nearby Brown County State Park.
Mulry didn't sign a petition herself to remain neutral in the remonstrance vote counting process, when she verified that the petitions' signers were registered voters or property owners.
"I respect the voice of the community in their overwhelming opposition to the project and understand, as a taxpayer, the financial burden of any property tax increase," she said in a news release.
Mulry said the county commissioners and county council will have to find alternatives that "meet the needs of the offices within the Courthouse that the community can support."
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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/indiana/brown-county-residents-reject-courthouse-upgrade/article_057a8836-c9c7-567e-803d-881ae36c9c3e.html
