By Bob Kasarda, Times of Northwest Indiana
bob.kasarda@nwi.com
VALPARAISO | When the Porter County Council voted by a narrow margin in April to leave the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, one of the reccurring concerns that evening was pending legislation calling for the creation of a Regional Transportation District with the power to tax.
Some County Council members felt as though state lawmakers were forcing their hand on the RTD issue at a time when there already was growing concern about their participation at the regional level.
In the wake of Tuesday's stinging defeat of the transit district proposal at the polls, those same council members said their opposition to the RDA remains as strong as ever, as does their intention to continue fighting in the courts for the right to walk away from the RDA partnership with Lake County. The RDA, funded by $3.5 milion in annual Porter County income tax proceeds and $14 million a year in Lake County casino taxes, was created in 2005 as a way to fund major infrastructure projects.
The outcome of last week's referendum was a stand against new taxes, said Porter County Councilwoman Laura Blaney.
But the nearly 4-1 vote opposing the proposed RTD was also a statement against regionalism and especially against the idea of siding up with Lake County and its long history of corrupt government, she said.
"If there were two Porter counties next to one another, I'd be all over regionalism," she said.
What Lake County officials need to do is clean up their act first, Blaney said, and then perhaps there could be enough trust for a regional effort to work.
Councilwoman Sylvia Graham said she does not see the incentive for Porter County to join the regional efforts.
"I don't think we gain that much by regionalizing," she said.
Graham disagrees with the assessment that Tuesday's vote was one against jobs. She questioned what real employment benefit has resulted from the RDA.
What Porter County needs are permanent, high quality jobs like those being created with the construction of the new Porter hospital, she said. The council recently allowed $12.4 million in tax breaks to encourage that project, she noted.
Councilman Dan Whitten said the opposition to the proposed transit stemmed from a belief among the public that its tax dollars, in general, are not being spent wisely.
That concern is fueled by the knowledge that the county has no controlling voice in how these regional tax dollars are spent, he said.
These taxes also go up, he said. Whitten said he has been approached by state lawmakers voicing interest in increasing the local income tax for the RDA.
"Quit spending beyond your means, that's the mandate," he said of last week's referendum.