Porter County official raps Northwest Indiana RDA's 10-year tax payments

The councilman said communities should be able to stop paying taxes to the RDA if it doesn't deliver the jobs it promised.

"I think they're trying to keep Porter County from getting out of this because we're not getting our money's worth," Porter County Council President Dan Whitten said. "We should be able to opt out any time. Lake County has the casino money. This is taxpayers' money. Now they say they're going to bond. What are they going to bond? They told us it's enough money to begin with."

Whitten said the RDA originally promised to create jobs without needing any more tax money, but that the RDA is now asking for more money without having delivered the goods.

"We were promised: 'it's going to fund the South Shore, it's going to fund buses, it's going to fund the airport.' Anybody in their right mind can look at that and say, it's not going to be enough money, they're going to be coming back for more money. That's the end result. That's what we're getting now," he said. "We ought to be able to stop the money from flowing if we think they're dumping the money into the toilet."

Porter County pays about $3.5 million in taxes every year to the RDA.

The RDA is asking for the 10-year commitment because a more stable revenue source would give a better interest rate on bonds.

A fiscal analysis conducted by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency said the impact of enacting a 10-year membership commitment from the five RDA members -- Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Lake and Porter counties --would have a "positive impact" on the bond terms the RDA would be able to get, saving taxpayers money.

The analysis said the provision could have a negative impact on the member cities and counties, who are each obligated to pay $3.5 annually to the RDA as members, as they "may not be able ... to fulfill the obligations."

The analysis did not elaborate on how significant either impact would be.

Jennifer Alvey, public finance director for the state finance agency, said her agency would be able to figure out exactly how much could be saved over the life of the bonds by altering the RDA membership requirements, but that no lawmaker had yet requested that information.

Tim Sanders, executive director of the RDA, said the first time he heard of the 10-year limit was when he read about it in the paper.

"Therein lies another big issue," said Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, who spoke out forcefully against the bill on the House floor. "This has been done unilaterally. Neither the participating municipalities or counties were aware of it or participated in it. And it may be something good. I don't want to rule it out totally. I just think it needs to have the input of those who are intricately involved in it."

House bill 1220, which contains the 10-year limit, passed the House and has been assigned to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Committee. State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and Gary Mayor Rudy Clay will hold a news conference on it this morning.

Meanwhile, Whitten has a clear message to the RDA: "Don't prevent us from opting out. If you deliver even a fraction of what you promise, we won't opt out," he said. "That's how I do business."