Tax taking new form?

Portland may be changing course on a new tax.

Mayor John Boggs told city council at its meeting Monday that an already-approved stormwater tax projected to be established in January may be funded by residents’ property taxes.

“I think it’s a smarter way to go …” Boggs said, adding that he believes the funding diversion can be completed as a budget item and the city could establish a stormwater fund without adding a monthly charge to residents or increasing taxes.

The mayor said advising firm Baker Tilly, hired to oversee the new tax by the city’s board of works, will be presenting the plan at a future city council meeting.

Council passed an ordinance in September establishing the tax without a set rate, though Boggs at the time estimated city residents could be paying $5 to $6 a month toward the stormwater fund based on Baker Tilly’s recommendations.

Boggs has said the tax is a necessity because the city needs a source of revenue to pay for projects to combat downtown flooding and to pay for Indiana Department of Environmental Management-mandated improvements to the wastewater treatment plant.

Additionally, Boggs said the stormwater tax could allow Portland to be eligible for up to $500,000 in grants from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Eligibility for those grants won’t be affected by the fund being financed by property taxes, Boggs said.

In other business, council members Don Gillespie, Matt Goldsworthy, Janet Powers, Michele Brewster, Dave Golden and Kent McClung, absent Mike Aker:

•Preliminarily appropriated $166,000 over the next two years and $34,000 annually beginning in 2022 for Jay County Animal Control Task Force’s proposed $1.1 million animal shelter. The city’s economic development income tax advisory committee is expected to meet and discuss the matter with the next month.

•At the recommendation of the city’s tax abatement advisory committee, finalized a five-year tax abatement worth $169,575 in savings for Fort Recovery Industries, which is investing $4.7 million into its Portland plant.

•Approved the rezoning of the former site of Integris Community Church at 601 N. Charles St. from low density residential to highway service. Portland Plan Commission preliminarily approved the rezoning at a Dec. 4 meeting, contingent on the property being sold to Midwest Pet Refuge.

•Heard that Boggs ceremonially accepted the resignation of Portland Police Department police chief Nathan Springer. Springer is set to retire Jan. 2, after which assistant chief Josh Stephenson will take over the department.