Rep. Dobis says no local taxes for South Shore expansion to Lowell and Valparaiso

BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com

INDIANAPOLIS | State Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, said Monday he has ruled out a local tax hike to finance construction of South Shore commuter rail extensions to Lowell and Valparaiso.

Today is the deadline to file legislation for this year's session of the Indiana General Assembly. Dobis is crafting a financing tool, but for now his South Shore measure merely would permit construction of the new lines.

"It's going to authorize the construction of both the Westlake Corridor Lake County portion and the new configuration to take it to Porter County. At this point, that's all it's going to do," Dobis said Monday. "In the next two to three weeks, I'll have a funding mechanism worked out. I just can't talk about it yet.

"If it works, it'll be great. If not, I'm not prepared to do any new taxation."

Two years ago, Dobis pitched a $50 annual vehicle registration fee in Lake and Porter counties to close a $350 million shortfall in the $1 billion project. Last year, he unsuccessfully sought to divert about $30 million a year in state sales tax collections toward the rail extensions.

The proposal, known as the Westlake Corridor expansion, had called for building one line south through Munster, Dyer, Schererville, St. John, Cedar Lake and Lowell and another east to Highland, Griffith, Merrillville, Hobart and Valparaiso. Dobis said his new legislation would authorize the line south to Lowell and an alternative route from Gary to Valparaiso, which is expected to reduce the cost of the project.

State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said region legislators will watch to see whether the $700 billion federal stimulus package being pushed by President-elect Barack Obama frees up any state construction dollars for mass transit initiatives.

"I think we're all of a mood not to raise taxes right now," Soliday said.