July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jump in county income tax OK'd (07/12/07)
Jay County Council
By By TRAVIS MINNEAR-
Jay County Council unanimously approved an increase to the county's adjusted gross income tax Wednesday to provide property tax relief for residents.
The hike, which was the subject of debate during a one-hour public hearing prior to the group's meeting, moves the income tax rate from 1.5 percent to 2.6143 percent beginning Oct. 1. On Oct. 1, 2008, the rate will decrease to 2.45 percent.
Council members, without an absent Fred Bailey, refrained from implementing an increase to 3.15 percent, which is the maximum amount allowed by state law. The council said it wanted to avoid maximizing the income tax hike, a portion of which cannot be decreased by local officials, until it had time to see how the changes worked.
The ordinance is designed to combat homestead tax credit revenue losses in the future, which will be declining as Indiana attempts to balance its budget.
Council president Marilyn Coleman said 2008 represents the first year since the tax's inception that there will be no increase in homestead credit benefits.
The potential of lost revenue coupled with a rapidly approaching deadline for implementation of Aug. 1, meant the council had to move quickly, Councilman Gerald Kirby said.
If the council took no action, property owners would have to wait until 2009 for local relief.
"The consequences of inaction are far more dire than the consequences of action," Kirby said.
"We'd be in a position where we'd have to eliminate services," if the council didn't pass the income tax increase, he added.
Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday, however, extended the deadline for counties to raise local income tax rates to Oct. 1. (For more on the governor's decision, see story on page five).
The tax expansion, estimated to generate $2,987,799 in 2008 and $2,509,996 for 2009, affects three areas of Jay County's income tax structure.
Auditor Fred Corwin said one-half percent of the increase, which will generate an estimated $1.4 million, will go directly toward a property tax relief fund for owners of qualifying resident properties.
A second component of the deal creates a .1643-percentage point tax increase to be used as operating funds for the county, its townships, cities, towns and libraries, Corwin said. It will raise approximately $477,803 in 2008, but will increase in 2009 to .4 percent.
Money for a stabilization fund also will be established through a .4 percentage point rise in income tax rates. It is slated to raise an estimated $975,196, and is intended to lighten the burden of poor economic performance in the future, Corwin said. That rate will be eliminated beginning Oct. 1, 2008.
"It's a fund we keep back in case we have a really bad year for unemployment and don't generate enough income tax," she said.
The final portion of the increase establishes a .05-percentage point expansion for a public safety fund. It will bring in $134,000 for the county and provide money for personnel, pensions and other services. Corwin said it is unclear whether the county can use the money for construction projects.
"That's going to have to be a very specific question asked to our legislators," she said.
Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier, who attended the meeting and public hearing beforehand, said he sees the public safety fund as an "insurance policy" for future safety needs.
He said increasing taxes is never an easy decision, but agreed it was the right call to help offset the future decrease in state funding.
"Sometimes the right decision is not always the popular one," he said.
The council noted that school systems are not affected by this ordinance, because they do not receive county adjusted gross income tax revenue.
In a separate issue Chuck Huffman, board member for Jay County Development Corporation, appeared at Wednesday's council meeting to answer criticism leveled at a June 25 Jay County Commissioners meeting about a Salamonia school renovation project.
He distributed an executive summary to the council that addressed complaints about the actions of Jay County Community Developer Ami Huffman.
It included a list of grants obtained through Jay County Community Development since 2001 and contained information he said addresses issues the Salamonia town council had about the project.
The attached evidence included written specifications from Kato Smith & Associates, the project's architecture firm that stated the building's keys would be transferred to the town of Salamonia upon the renovation's completion. It also contained a letter to Salamonia community leaders from JCDC Director Ami Huffman, dated April 25, 2006. The letter stated questions could be directed toward her organization and she could set up times for people to access the building.
Also contained in the summary was a copy of minutes from the June 5, 2006 Salamonia Town Council meeting, when bids for the school project were opened and approved.
During the recent commissioners meeting, some town council members said they never saw bids for the project.
The summary also had an explanation for why $3,000 in Salamonia's Economic Development Income Tax money was used to pay utility bills for the school during construction.
It said Ami Huffman contacted former JCDC Executive Director Bob Quadrozzi, who released the money because grant money cannot be used to pay utilities.
Chuck Huffman said JCDC board members had met with interested parties about the Salamonia project to discuss possible solutions to issues raised by community leaders.
"The board has taken great concern about the negative publicity from the complaints," he said.
The summary also addressed issues raised about a Redkey water project.
In other business, the Jay County Council:
•Passed a motion to allow Jay County Commissioners to explore options for expanding the county jail. This includes giving permission to obtain preliminary prices on architecture designs and construction services.
•Appropriated $750 for a court interpreter grant fund and $150,000 for contractual services for the infrastructure fund.
•Agreed to give Millwright Fabricators, Inc., Pennville, a five-year real estate tax abatement.
•Sent tax abatement information for Chance, John and Rhett Retter and Stay Jay Hotels, LLC to the Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee.
•Required GFT, LLC, Pennville, to submit the necessary compliance forms to renew an existing tax abatement.[[In-content Ad]]
The hike, which was the subject of debate during a one-hour public hearing prior to the group's meeting, moves the income tax rate from 1.5 percent to 2.6143 percent beginning Oct. 1. On Oct. 1, 2008, the rate will decrease to 2.45 percent.
Council members, without an absent Fred Bailey, refrained from implementing an increase to 3.15 percent, which is the maximum amount allowed by state law. The council said it wanted to avoid maximizing the income tax hike, a portion of which cannot be decreased by local officials, until it had time to see how the changes worked.
The ordinance is designed to combat homestead tax credit revenue losses in the future, which will be declining as Indiana attempts to balance its budget.
Council president Marilyn Coleman said 2008 represents the first year since the tax's inception that there will be no increase in homestead credit benefits.
The potential of lost revenue coupled with a rapidly approaching deadline for implementation of Aug. 1, meant the council had to move quickly, Councilman Gerald Kirby said.
If the council took no action, property owners would have to wait until 2009 for local relief.
"The consequences of inaction are far more dire than the consequences of action," Kirby said.
"We'd be in a position where we'd have to eliminate services," if the council didn't pass the income tax increase, he added.
Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday, however, extended the deadline for counties to raise local income tax rates to Oct. 1. (For more on the governor's decision, see story on page five).
The tax expansion, estimated to generate $2,987,799 in 2008 and $2,509,996 for 2009, affects three areas of Jay County's income tax structure.
Auditor Fred Corwin said one-half percent of the increase, which will generate an estimated $1.4 million, will go directly toward a property tax relief fund for owners of qualifying resident properties.
A second component of the deal creates a .1643-percentage point tax increase to be used as operating funds for the county, its townships, cities, towns and libraries, Corwin said. It will raise approximately $477,803 in 2008, but will increase in 2009 to .4 percent.
Money for a stabilization fund also will be established through a .4 percentage point rise in income tax rates. It is slated to raise an estimated $975,196, and is intended to lighten the burden of poor economic performance in the future, Corwin said. That rate will be eliminated beginning Oct. 1, 2008.
"It's a fund we keep back in case we have a really bad year for unemployment and don't generate enough income tax," she said.
The final portion of the increase establishes a .05-percentage point expansion for a public safety fund. It will bring in $134,000 for the county and provide money for personnel, pensions and other services. Corwin said it is unclear whether the county can use the money for construction projects.
"That's going to have to be a very specific question asked to our legislators," she said.
Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier, who attended the meeting and public hearing beforehand, said he sees the public safety fund as an "insurance policy" for future safety needs.
He said increasing taxes is never an easy decision, but agreed it was the right call to help offset the future decrease in state funding.
"Sometimes the right decision is not always the popular one," he said.
The council noted that school systems are not affected by this ordinance, because they do not receive county adjusted gross income tax revenue.
In a separate issue Chuck Huffman, board member for Jay County Development Corporation, appeared at Wednesday's council meeting to answer criticism leveled at a June 25 Jay County Commissioners meeting about a Salamonia school renovation project.
He distributed an executive summary to the council that addressed complaints about the actions of Jay County Community Developer Ami Huffman.
It included a list of grants obtained through Jay County Community Development since 2001 and contained information he said addresses issues the Salamonia town council had about the project.
The attached evidence included written specifications from Kato Smith & Associates, the project's architecture firm that stated the building's keys would be transferred to the town of Salamonia upon the renovation's completion. It also contained a letter to Salamonia community leaders from JCDC Director Ami Huffman, dated April 25, 2006. The letter stated questions could be directed toward her organization and she could set up times for people to access the building.
Also contained in the summary was a copy of minutes from the June 5, 2006 Salamonia Town Council meeting, when bids for the school project were opened and approved.
During the recent commissioners meeting, some town council members said they never saw bids for the project.
The summary also had an explanation for why $3,000 in Salamonia's Economic Development Income Tax money was used to pay utility bills for the school during construction.
It said Ami Huffman contacted former JCDC Executive Director Bob Quadrozzi, who released the money because grant money cannot be used to pay utilities.
Chuck Huffman said JCDC board members had met with interested parties about the Salamonia project to discuss possible solutions to issues raised by community leaders.
"The board has taken great concern about the negative publicity from the complaints," he said.
The summary also addressed issues raised about a Redkey water project.
In other business, the Jay County Council:
•Passed a motion to allow Jay County Commissioners to explore options for expanding the county jail. This includes giving permission to obtain preliminary prices on architecture designs and construction services.
•Appropriated $750 for a court interpreter grant fund and $150,000 for contractual services for the infrastructure fund.
•Agreed to give Millwright Fabricators, Inc., Pennville, a five-year real estate tax abatement.
•Sent tax abatement information for Chance, John and Rhett Retter and Stay Jay Hotels, LLC to the Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee.
•Required GFT, LLC, Pennville, to submit the necessary compliance forms to renew an existing tax abatement.[[In-content Ad]]
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