By Erik Potter, Post-Tribune staff writer
CROWN POINT -- The stage officially was set on Thursday for a battle next week over a food and beverage tax in Lake County. The Lake County Council placed the item on its Tuesday agenda, and the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority approved a resolution stating it will use the money for public transportation.
The vote in the council on Tuesday will be the first of two needed for passage. Councilmen Tom O'Donnell, D-Dyer, Ernie Dillon, D-Hammond, and Jerome Prince, D-Gary, were on the record during Thursday's study session as supporting the tax. However, the council will need four members to pass the tax and five of the seven members to overturn a promised veto by the county commissioners.
The 1 percent food and beverage tax would apply to food and drink purchases at restaurants and bars and would raise an estimated $7 million a year. The Regional Bus Authority sees the tax as a way to rescue busing in Lake County, which is starved of money under the new property tax caps.
Opponents, such as South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Speros Batistatos, see it as an ill-advised tax increase during a recession in which the ends -- supporting public busing -- don't relate to the means -- taxing the hospitality industry.
Still others, such as Everybody Counts Executive Director Teresa Torres, don't necessarily oppose the tax, but argue that professional administration of the bus systems is the more important step, and oppose an RBA takeover of busing in the county.
Both the RDA and the RBA will make short presentations to the County Council at the Tuesday meeting. Council members debated Thursday whether to open the floor to public comment. If the debate proves contentious, the council may opt for a special meeting on the issue.
The RDA vote means any money raised by the food and beverage tax -- which automatically goes to the RDA to distribute, according to state statute -- will go to public transportation. Late last year, the RDA approved a resolution urging the RBA to take over all busing in Lake County. However, the amount of money raised by the food and beverage tax could be more than what the RBA would need to accomplish that, meaning some money could be left over for other public transportation projects.
The region's state lawmakers have been looking for a local source to pay for an extension of the South Shore Railroad, but any money left over after busing would be inadequate.