Brian Williams, Times of Northwest Indiana
brian.williams@nwi.com
VALPARAISO -- The Porter County Council on Friday took its case for leaving the RDA to court.
In a suit filed by council member Dan Whitten, the council seeks approval of its April vote to withdraw from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.
The suit filed in Porter County Superior Court seeks to block county Auditor James Kopp and Treasurer James Murphy from transferring county funds to the RDA.
The suit also seeks a declaration that provisions contained in the state budget passed last month violate two sections of the Indiana Constitution. Those amendments to state law address the RDA and the county economic development income tax that funds Porter County's participation in the RDA.
The amendments allow any two municipalities in Porter County to pass resolutions forcing the county to remain in the RDA. The lawsuit argues those provision deny representation to unincorporated areas of the county.
In April, the council voted 4-3 to withdraw from the development body it had joined in 2005 with Lake County and to stop submitting it $3.5 million in annual dues.
Since the April vote, county membership in the RDA has been in limbo as the legality of the council's action has been debated.
Whitten, who has led the council effort to withdraw, said the suit was intended to bring resolution to the issue with a binding, judicial decision.
"This is putting the rubber to the road. Let's find out and then move on," Whitten said.
Whitten said he believes the original intent of the RDA law was to allow the opportunity to withdraw. And even if it wasn't, "you can't make people stay in," he said.
County Commissioner Bob Harper said the scope of the RDA has gone beyond its original intent.
"We must all remember the RDA was originally created for four things: the Marquette Plan, Gary airport, the South Shore and the bus system, but it takes in less revenue a year than Hammond, Gary or East Chicago does in gambling revenue," Harper said.
"So, it's a stretch to believe they can do all these things. So, all they can do is create more agencies with all these taxes, like the RTA (proposed regional transit authority to fund bus and rail service). Who knows how many taxes? There's not enough money in what they are talking about."
In a written statement, RDA board Chairman Leigh Morris declined to comment on the matter since it now is in litigation. However, he reiterated his position that Porter County has received 30 percent more than it has invested in the RDA. The RDA, he said, was created to facilitate transformational developments in the region that no single unit of local government could carry out.
Council President Bob Poparad, who opposed the move to withdraw, had not yet read the suit Friday and declined to comment on it.
The Porter County Council filed a lawsuit Friday to prohibit the county auditor and treasurer from continuing to pay the county's $3.5 million annual dues to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. The council voted 4-3 in April to withdraw from the RDA, but the 2005 state law that created the organization doesn't say how a member can leave. Lake County, which pays in $17.5 million a year in casino tax revenue, is the only other RDA member.