NIRPC affirms support for South Shore expansion

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission for the third time Thursday expressed its support of plans to extend the South Shore commuter railroad to Valparaiso and Lowell.

A meeting of the commission, which represents 53 local governments, heard from Executive Director John Swanson on how money will be raised to fund construction and on the status of a long-delayed feasibility report.

Afterward, it took no action to overturn two previous resolutions to support the extension.

"The demand is there," said Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas. "We've seen when it (commuter rail) is extended from the city to the suburbs it creates growth around those areas."

The last NIRPC meeting to consider the issue was a contentious one. Members debated for an hour and a half before adopting a resolution that expressed support for the extension, but also asked for answers to outstanding questions.

The most immediate question was whether state legislators would push for a new local tax to support the $1 billion project.

Swanson said legislators at a meeting in Indianapolis on Jan. 23 said there are no plans and no interest in pursuing a local tax this year to support the extension.

Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, and other legislators instead plan to continue to push for getting a slice of state sales tax to raise $350 million in local funds for the project, Swanson reported. Dobis predicts another $150 million will come from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, though the RDA has not yet considered any request for the money.

The federal government could provide up to $500 million if the project successfully competes for funds.

NIRPC member and Porter County Commission President Robert Harper sharply questioned some of Swanson's words, especially on the no new tax pledge.

"I think anything could happen downstate," Harper said. "We have to be vigilant about this." 

He pointed out one funding scenario proposed to legislators in the RDA's comprehensive strategic development plan includes two new taxes: a food and beverage tax and an income tax.

Swanson later said he was told by an RDA consultant that those two taxes would be replaced by the slice of state sales tax included in the legislation proposed by Dobis.

On Wednesday, that legislation was assigned to a summer study committee by the state Senate. However, supporters are hopeful it can be revived this session.

Swanson also reported a $3 million South Shore extension feasibility study was suspended to give consultants time to amass new population growth figures. The study originally found population growth in Northwest Indiana was not strong enough to make the project competitive when it comes to federal funding.

NIRPC has pointed out the original population growth predicted in the study through the year 2030 lags far behind actual growth since 2000.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said he strongly supports the extension plans, as long as they include a new downtown station for Hammond and a spur to the Gary/Chicago International Airport.

The spur to the airport is a key demand of state legislators from Gary who say they will not support the extension without it.

"The Gary legislators saying it should be connected to the airport makes perfect sense to me," McDermott said. "I feel Gary has every right to feel slighted."