By Kevin Leininger the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:
About 90 percent of Allen County government's 1,500 employees live in the county, generating nearly $763,000 in local income taxes. That means the 155 people who live elsewhere aren't paying nearly $78,000 in income taxes to the county for which they are paid with tax dollars to work. The residential property taxes they aren't paying locally amounts to even more.
So some will no doubt react skeptically to the proposed elimination of a law intended to prevent a similar situation within city government. And they are right to be cautious, because there is a good case to be made for the public-employee residency requirements that have fallen into and out of favor since the late 1800s. But the administration of Mayor Tom Henry also makes a compelling case for its proposal to allow city workers to live in Indiana counties contiguous to Allen, and deserves a fair hearing before City Council votes as soon as next week.
“We've probably made offers to 10 to 15 people who said, 'OK, but we can't move (into Allen County). We're a technical organization, and we need people with special skills,” said City Utilities Director Kumar Menon, expressing what seems to be the city's chief rationale for ending its current policy, which requires employees to move into Allen County within six months of their hire.
As any employer knows, the ability to attract and keep good workers is critical. That is especially true in fields requiring hard-to-find skills. So when Menon says the city has been forced to pay contractors to provide engineering services at its waste treatment plant because it can't find someone to fill the job, it pays to listen.
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