From the Northwest Indiana Times:
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Republican legislators in the Indiana House, who apparently heard the rumble of this debate as far away as Indianapolis, responded with their own gambit -- voting 97-0 this week to delete the property tax freeze law, blunting any public sympathy Democrats might have generated on the don't-blame-me-for-this-tax front.
County Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said the timing of the Republican legislators vote smelled of political theater.
"We've been asking them to lift the freeze for five years; why did they wait do it now?" he asked.
County Councilman David Hamm, D-Hammond, said even if the freeze were lifted, that would generate only $4 million additional property tax dollars next year, not the tens of millions an income tax would generate. He said Democrats will push ahead for passage next month of ordinances that would impose a 1.5 percent tax on all county residents' personal income.
For at least the next few weeks, Lake County remains the only county among the state's 92 without a local option income tax.
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The ultimate decision on whether the Lake County property tax levy freeze is lifted, is now in the hands of state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso. He is the initial sponsor of this year's bill to alter Lake income tax and property tax formulas. 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.
If he doesn't and Lake officials pass the current version of a local income tax, some $90 million of the income tax is theoretically earmarked for property tax relief.
However, that relief varies by community from a theoretical 7 percent reduction in Gary to up to 27 percent reduction in unincorporated St. John Township.
County officials said the difference is driven by the distribution formula they have chosen -- a 45 cent reduction in the tax rate county government assesses for every $100 assessed value in all parts of the county.
While everybody would get the same 45-cent rate reduction, that represents only a small fraction of the average total tax rate in the city of Gary, for instance, which hovers above $6 per $100 assessed valuation. Municipal and township taxing units command the lion's share of taxes in that community.
By contrast, county government represents the largest share of the total tax rate in unincorporated St. John Township where property owners don't support large township or municipal tax burdens.
The property tax rate relief would range above 20 percent of the tax rate in all unincorporated areas except Hobart township, which would be at 17 percent relief and Calumet Township at 12 percent relief. Calumet Township poor relief services support a large population living below the poverty level.
The towns of St. John and Schererville would enjoy 21 percent tax rate relief, Dyer and Winfield 19 percent, Crown Point, Highland and Merrillville between 16 percent and 17 percent, Lowell and Munster 15 percent, Hobart, New Chicago, Schneider and Whiting 13 percent, Griffith 12 percent, and East Chicago, Hammond and Lake Station 9 percent.
However, property tax relief wouldn't reach tens of thousands of income taxpayers living in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, Lake Station and Griffith, because property taxes there are so high they already are getting all the tax relief the state constitution permits. Their income tax dollars will be diverted into the coffers of municipal and township government instead.
See the full article here:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/politicians-place-heaping-order-of-taxes/article_d95f5d76-556d-5532-8157-097de3e38bde.html
