From the Northwest Indiana Times:
Voters will go to the polls next spring with less money in their wallets and perhaps revenge in their hearts.
Lake County Council members and Lake County Board of Commissioners who supported the 1.5 percent assessment on county residents and workers this month will be on the 2014 ballot with other county officials running for election.
Dan Dernulc, chairman of the county Republican party and one of the council members who voted against the tax, said the tax will be a serious issue in next year's campaigns.
A vocal coalition of Republicans, Tea Party advocates and political activists disaffected with the Democratic party have vowed vengeance at the polls.
Allen Ray, secretary of the Lake County Libertarian Party, lashed out at Lake County Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, who campaigned against a new tax, but let the income tax pass by refusing to veto it.
"If we can learn anything from history, it is that this tax will soon increase, perhaps even double, and that Lake County government will still be broke, until we decide, as taxpayers and voters, that enough is enough," Ray said.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., the Democratic county chairman and an income-tax supporter, sounded a wary tone on his WJOB talk show after the tax's passage.
"All that matters now is what happens next May," he said. "I know a lot of people are upset about what happened today. Voters go out and take care if they have an elected official who they think didn't make the right move."
This doesn't frighten Councilman David Hamm, D-Hammond, who not only voted for the tax, but also initiated the debate last month because he thought the tax was the right thing to do fiscally to keep local government budgets balanced without cutting essential services.
"I don't expect much blowback," Hamm said in confirming he will be running next year.
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See the full article here:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/will-be-income-tax-payback-time/article_c5b1a23f-690c-54fa-961b-e5f4dde3f2da.html
