All seven members of the Owen County Council voted Monday night in favor of a 0.2% increase in the local income tax that will go into effect Jan. 1.
Depending on actual total county residents’ income, the tax could raise up to $800,000 a year, according to estimates presented during Monday night’s meeting at the courthouse.
Based on U.S. Census data, the annual median Owen County household income is $48,667, financial adviser Jeff Peters said at the meeting. The current income tax in Owen County is 1.4%, and the ordinance passed Monday increases it to 1.6%.
Peters said a household with that income currently pays $681.34 in local income tax, which will go up $97.33 in 2021, for a total of $778.67 a year.
The tax revenue will be used to pay for a state-mandated study of options to address issues at the county’s dilapidated 34-year-old jail. The study is expected to cost about $250,000; the rest of the tax revenue generated would be saved for the jail project.
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