By Justin Leighty, Truth Staff
jleighty@etruth.com
GOSHEN -- Cutting services or boosting local income taxes were the biggest options discussed when a group of leaders from the county and several cities and towns got together Tuesday to talk about the impact of property tax cuts.
"We need to begin looking at Local Option Income Taxes or severely cutting back" on things like parks and the health department, said Mike Yoder, one of the three county commissioners.
John Letherman, president of the county council, said, though, "We don't want to be in a position where our only answer is we've got to raise taxes."
The 12 people gathered, though, realize they have a tough sell.
Earlier in the decade residential property owners got hit with a shift in the tax burden toward them from businesses. Coupled with a court-mandated shift in assessments, moving them closer to actual market values, some people saw their property taxes jump significantly.
"The legislators should've cut this problem off, but they didn't," said Nappanee Mayor Larry Thompson.
Instead, once the shift happened, legislators enacted property tax caps that go into full effect next year.
Letherman said that in that entire process, "The fact of the matter is we didn't get 10 cents more money. It just got shifted around."
Yoder said, "What we're trying to do at this point is maintain revenue."
Now governments are trying to figure out how to operate with millions in fewer dollars. County Auditor Dave Hess said that to adequately maintain the county's $400 million in properties, it should be putting between $6 million and $8 million into maintenance each year. "We're nowhere near that," he said.
Though the group is nowhere near taking action, it discussed several ideas:
* Raising local income taxes;
* Asking legislators to allow them to collect PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, from some nonprofit entities (like hospital satellite facilities) for the use of services;
* Cutting back hours of taxpayer-funded employees;
* Privatizing some services;
* Raising costs for some services;
* Getting an analysis of how much the services provided by government agencies actually cost;
* Figuring out exactly what the county and cities and towns are legally required to provide, with an eye toward cutting services that aren't required.
Whatever they do, group members expressed a general consensus that they'll have to tell people the true costs of services so people can make informed decisions.
Yoder asked the group, "How do we engage the community in a prioritization process?"
Leaders need to hear from people as they try to make these choices, he said.