One proposed tax increase designed to help build and maintain county facilities is off the table, at least for another year. Bartholomew County has lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursements from the state because it does not have a Cumulative Capital Development Fund. Councilman Matt Miller says that this tax increase could hinder efforts to battle the area’s drug problem…
Council member Evelyn Pence says noted that the council is made up of Republicans…
Councilman Mark Gorbett took his fellow council members to task for not doing more to strengthen the county’s finances…
Gorbett says the council recently spent over $30,000 on a consultant that determined that the county needed to increase revenue to better staff departments throughout county government.
Other council members said they wanted to wait to see how this year’s budget hearings play-out before they commit to a tax increase. The body will be considering an increase to the local income tax rate later this year to better fund public safety.