By John Byrne, Post-Tribune staff writer
INDIANAPOLIS - Northwest Indiana would be the guinea pig for a multi-county transit board that would have the power to levy income taxes to fund rail and bus service under a proposal announced in a Senate committee Tuesday.
A regional transportation district comprising Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties would be established Jan. 1 in the package Sen. Luke Kenley presented to the Senate Transportation Committee.
The board could enact up to a 0.25 percent income tax in each county, the amount in each based on a calculation of how much money is needed for capital improvements and ridership.
At its maximum in all four counties, the tax would raise $52 million annually, Kenley said, enough to pay off the debt on the $350 million in local money needed for the South Shore rail extension, as well as help fund some kind of regional bus system.
The bill passed the committee by an 8-0 vote, and next will head to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee for further consideration.
If the bill becomes law, it could spell the end of the Regional Bus Authority. Kenley's proposal has the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and some kind of bus service board reporting to the new "Super Board."
But Sen. Earline Rogers, who sits on the Transportation Committee, said the RBA might be cut out of the process.
Still, Rogers, D-Gary, said she is generally supportive of Kenley's plan, because it recognizes the importance of bus service, and allows income tax revenue to be directed to maintaining a regional bus system. She said the bill could look considerably different by the end of the legislative session, however.
If the new system works in Northwest Indiana, Kenley said it could be expanded to allow multi-county regional transit districts around the state.