EDITORIAL: New tax only for regional transit in Northwest Indiana

Times of Northwest Indiana

Northwest Indiana is facing a transportation crisis that requires not just state and federal assistance but a tug on our own bootstraps as well.

The Regional Bus Authority on Wednesday asked the Lake County Council to adopt a 1 percent sales tax on food and beverage purchases at restaurants and bars. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority would use the proceeds to support public transit.

The State Budget Agency estimates the tax would raise $6 million in Lake County.

The Lake County Council should approve the tax only on the condition that a regional transportation plan be in place.

The council voted down the tax in 2005, but things have changed since then. Public transportation is in peril.

As property tax caps pinch cities' spending, public transportation systems are facing shutdowns. Hammond is planning to keep its buses running through June by using casino money. After that, all bets are off. Northwest Indiana Community Action is planning to shut down its demand-response service even sooner. That must not happen.

The RBA was created with the expectation that the agency combine the separate bus lines in Lake and Porter counties into a single, seamless system. This must be a condition for the Lake County Council's adoption of the food and beverage tax.

The extension of commuter rail service to Lowell must also be a condition for adopting this tax.

It is not easy in this economic climate to support a new tax of any kind. This is a rare exception.

All forms of transportation are subsidized. For proof, just try flying without an airport or driving without a road. This tax would be a partial subsidy of public transportation, but not the sole support. That's where not just fares but also state and federal support figures in.

Northwest Indiana needs state and federal help for a number of projects. It is difficult to make the case for assistance when legislators downstate can correctly point out that Lake County hasn't used any of the self-help options it already has available. That's true not just for transportation but other issues as well.

The food and beverage tax is more palatable than other options because it's based on consumption. If you can afford a fancy steak dinner, you pay more than someone who just wants a burger and fries at the drive-through window.

Also, this tax would not prop up inefficient government but allow for cost-saving reforms.

Here's one example: With the bus lines combined into one system, Lake County's satellite offices could be closed and all the courts put in one location -- to share resources more efficiently -- without eliminating public access for people without their own vehicles.

Thus this new tax would allow some of the Good Government Initiative recommendations to be implemented.

We support the food and beverage tax, but only on the condition that a regional transportation plan be in place. The money should be used on these transportation initiatives: Combining the bus systems in Lake and Porter counties, South Shore service and possibly Gary/Chicago International Airport.

Otherwise, the council should reject the tax again.