EDIT Fails Again

Kosciusko County Council defeated the proposed Economic Development Income Tax Saturday by a vote of 4 to 2.

County councilman John Kinsey moved to approve EDIT and council president Brad Tandy seconded the motion. Those opposed to EDIT were Jim Tranter, Kathryn Teel, Tom Anglin and Harold Jones. Councilman Lewis Bertsch was not present at the meeting.

EDIT, if it had passed, was a 0.4 percent tax rate and would have begun collecting July 1, 2000. The tax would have been based on adjusted gross income as reported on federal tax returns.

Kosciusko County is one of four counties in Indiana that does not have EDIT.

Saturday's vote was the fourth time in the last five years the county has voted down EDIT.

After more than an hour of public debate, each councilman thanked the crowd of more than 100 county residents for their input.

Jones said he would not hesitate to enact new taxes if he thought it was the best for the community. He also said if the county does build a new jail, it will take more money to help fund it than just the actual building will cost. He also asked the community to have faith in their council.

Anglin said, "We've heard a lot of good comments for and against it. It's a no-win decision up here."

Tandy used his time to clear up several misconceptions in the community.

He said, "I do not believe that the property tax will be reduced dollar for dollar if EDIT is passed." He said no one tried to guarantee that there would be a reduction, although it was possible.

He also said several people said there is enough money in the jail cumulative fund to pay for the jail expansion, but that is simply not true.

"There is not $7 million sitting around to build a jail," he said.

He also pointed out Kosciusko County has the lowest county tax rate in the state and the fifth or sixth lowest income tax.

"We are frugal and we are a conservative group," he said.

One item that concerned him the most was investment. He said, like a company, a person cannot keep taking the profit and never investing back. Likewise, he said, Kosciusko County cannot continue to grow if they don't invest anything back into the community.

"I do not see the investments coming in this county like I do in surrounding counties," he said.

He said if the county does not have more funding to finance a jail and the county needs a new jail, there will come a time that property taxes will have to be raised to pay for the jail expansion.

Regarding the sell-off of Kosciusko Community Hospital, Tandy also told the crowd, "The county had no involvement in that transaction nor do we have any say over those funds."

Tranter said of the 16 taxing units that comprise the Kosciusko County Income Tax Council, they have officially heard from only five of the units.

"We have 10 of 16 we are assuming are voting no," he said.

He said it is apparent the needs of the towns for EDIT are not there. He also said he thinks the county will be OK with funding for a new jail if EDIT is not passed.

Teel told the council she was not contacted about EDIT from the people in her district and no one complained to her. She said she believes the people in her area think she will do what's right.

Jones also thanked County Commissioner Brad Jackson and the commissioners for their input on EDIT. The commissioners sent a letter to the council asking the council to approve the tax.

Jackson personally spoke to the council and crowd on why he and the commissioners believed they should pass EDIT.

"We all would unanimously agree we pay too much taxes. (But) the funding we used to receive from state and federal is drying up," he said.

He told the council there is now not enough funds to help pay for all the local projects needed for slow and steady growth. If the county and towns receive federal or state grants, there are usually strings attached. EDIT is a local tax that remains locally and would help the county to slowly and steadily grow, he said, especially since the federal and state government funding isn't as reliable.

"We need to make sure we're at least going in the right direction," Jackson said.

"Right now we have a perfect area for industry outside of town," he said. But, because infrastructure isn't in place to support new industry, no business wants to go in and build there, he said. "The county does need to address this in some fashion."

After Jackson told the council the commissioners' views on EDIT, Tandy opened the floor for public discussion. Tandy told the crowd the council has voted on EDIT several other times and had already heard several presentations on EDIT. He asked that anyone who spoke not repeat what someone said previously and to limit their comments to two to three minutes.

People on both sides of EDIT told the council how they thought the council should vote on the tax. The crowd of 100 was almost evenly split.

But, in the end, it was those opposed to EDIT who applauded after the final county council vote was taken.