Shelby County Council passes new 0.25 percent income tax

"I have called the DLGF and they say that as long as it passed it will go into effect January 1, 2016," Glackman wrote. "That was a verbal answer. I have also emailed him and asked him to answer the questions again in writing."

County Council President Tony Titus confirmed that, saying, "To the best of our knowledge, we're good to go."

After Thursday night's vote, some city and county officials expressed concerns off the record that the new tax would not go into effect at the first of the year because it wasn't a unanimous decision.

Titus said some of the confusion may have stemmed from a vote in Union County. According to the Liberty Herald, the Union County Council failed to adopt a public safety LOIT on Oct. 8 because the vote was not unanimous. The council passed the tax on Oct. 15, however, by a 5-1 vote.

The Shelby County Council had a Nov. 1 deadline to pass the ordinance in order for the public safety local option income tax to start collecting revenue on Jan. 1, 2016.

Titus said that was the reason for what some called a "rushed" decision on implementing the LOIT.

"If we pass this tonight, the paperwork will go to the state tomorrow and we can start receiving public safety revenue Jan. 1, 2016. If we don't do it until Nov. 2, 3, Jan. 1, whenever, we can't generate any revenue until January 2017. That itself is the reason we're trying to facilitate this a little quick," Titus said at Thursday night's special council session.

Although implementing the LOIT had been discussed at previous council meetings, it wasn't until the Oct. 20 regular council meeting that the new tax came under public scrutiny.

As with that meeting, opponents and supporters of the tax were able to ask the council questions and discuss their reasons pro and con for the tax.

Todd Day asserted that changes he's heard are in the works will reduce the workload for the sheriff's department, jail officers and the probation department, three areas which could be funded through the public safety LOIT.

Council members refuted Day's assertion.

"It seems like everything we've heard from the court systems and so forth, mandates down from the state are going to increase the probation and community corrections workload," Titus said.

Councilman Ryan Claxton, the board's liaison to the public defender's office, said a new rule requires all juvenile delinquent cases now to have a public defender.

"I think year-to-date in Shelby County that's 96 additional cases that didn't have a public defender (before)," Claxton said.

Attorney Michael Stephenson argued that the council had no choice but to approve the new tax, noting the loss of revenues because of state measures.

"If you have a loss in revenues over here, why? Because the state has given us taxpayers lower property taxes, lower inheritance taxes, lower property tax caps. They've lowered that on us as individuals and put the burden on you at the county level to make up for it," Stephenson said.

Glackman noted at last week's meeting that county funding from four sources -- bank interest, the inheritance tax, Indiana Department of Corrections reimbursement for the county jailing federal prisoners, and the homestead tax -- has decreased from over $1.6 million in 2007 to $327,645.20 in 2014.

That shortfall has forced the council to use racino money to shore up the general fund budget, including $1.3 million this year.

Peyton McQueen, whose mother, Amy, spoke out against the proposal last week, asked why the county couldn't continue to use racino funds to cover shortfalls.

"My way of thinking is, you can't keep dipping into your savings for services that you need. Because there could come a time when that savings dries up," Titus said. "If you use all that money to cover the jail, cover deputies, cover fire and ambulance, and then you don't have that money, you have to find other ways to either support that, or you've got to get rid of it. So it's better to get ahead of those problems rather than just throw money at it from your savings account."

But the county continues to receive racino money each year, Amy McQueen noted.

Titus said that could change at any time.

"I'm not so much worried about the casino going bankrupt, but I worry about the state changing the percentage that the city and county can get from that revenue. That's always been my concern," Titus said.

The 0.25 percent tax on income earned in Shelby County can only be used for public safety, which includes police/law enforcement, firefighting and fire prevention systems, emergency ambulance and medical services, emergency action such as cleanup after a natural disaster, probation programs, community corrections programs, juvenile detention centers and the county jail.

Someone with a $30,000 salary, for instance, would pay $75 a year toward the public safety tax. However, Glackman noted that those with pretaxed health insurance could pay less because the LOIT is calculated based on the salary after pretax deductions are taken.

The tax would bring in an estimated $947,249 for the county; $1,234,403 for Shelbyville; $41,749 for Morristown; $22,732 for Edinburgh; $4,225 for Fairland; and $2,775 for St. Paul, based on data put together by Glackman.

Titus, Claxton, Scott Asher and Leigh Langkabel voted in favor of the tax, with Bryan Fischer, Linda Sanders and Terry Smith voting against.