By Larry Riley in the Muncie Star-Press:
You read that the Muncie Public Library is taking quick action to deal with, and limit, the impact of even more property tax losses this year projected by the county auditor’s office?
A yet-undetermined number of employees — the library has 43 full-time — will be laid off and the system’s two main branches each will close one weekend day.
The move is a proactive way to confront what appears to be problematic news, and clearly that agency’s leaders think they need to act sooner, not later.
The library wants to reduce $400,000 from its current 2013 budget. Act now, that’s $66,000 in monthly reductions. Waiting another three months would require $133,000 in monthly reductions, a less manageable figure.
The three biggest local government units forecasted to lose much more than the library are taking different actions — or none.
Muncie Community Schools may try to get a higher tax rate for the indefinite future via a referendum this fall. Like almost every local government, MCS hiked its tax rate for this year, going up 7 percent. But that tax rate comes out of a property tax-capped “pie,” if I may use the analogy.
A referendum, I think, will allow a tax rate to circumvent the property tax caps and create a bigger “pie.”
Delaware County is dealing with the issue by doing nothing, mostly because its fiscal leaders are hapless and clueless.
The city of Muncie also is doing nothing, but that’s because Mayor Dennis Tyler does not think the impacts will be nearly what’s projected.
In fact, the projections are not what local governments will receive, but what “credits” — a mythical amount of money taxpayers won’t pay if they are taxed beyond the tax caps — will amount to per government unit.
The issue is complicated, and may not be completely understood until all taxes are paid and sorted out.
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See the full article here:
http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306020022
