LIBERTY — Union County residents might be paying an additional income tax next year.
The Union County Council agreed Thursday to have a public hearing next month on adopting a Public Safety Local Option Income Tax to generate more money for the cash-strapped county.
The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 8 in the courthouse meeting room.
The 0.25 percent income tax would generate almost $240,000 in 2016, Auditor Gene Sanford said. The county and the towns of Liberty and West College Corner each would receive a share of the income tax revenues, with the county’s share $237,000.
Councilman Brad Snyder asked if there were any other options. The local option income taxes are the only options, Sanford said. The county and other taxing units are losing revenue every year because of the property tax caps, he said.
“If we don’t do this, we have no working balance,” Sanford said. Counties receive property taxes only twice a year, so if they don’t have a working balance, they must borrow money to pay bills until the next payment of property taxes.
Council members said most of the budget increases requested for the sheriff and jail budgets could be paid by the Public Safety Local Option Income Tax, which would help the council stretch general fund monies to cover other county needs.