God bless our fellow citizens in Morgan County. According to an article in the Indianapolis Star, they went ahead and adopted the local option income taxes authorized by the General Assembly as tools to offset reliance on property tax. The income tax imposed as a result of these increases will be 1.45%. They chose all three options offered by the General Assembly. According to the article:
Option #1 is a 0.2% income tax and it will pay for the increased cost of government in 2007/2008 from the previous year.
Option #2 is a 1% income tax and it will be used to offset current reliance on property taxes – in other words, it ought to reduce property taxes.
Option #3 (available to local governments only if options #1 and #2 are adopted) is a 0.25% income tax which will be used to fund local public safety expenses.
The article does not say, but I believe Option #2 also required a decision by the county as to whether the property tax relief would be directed to all property owners; homeowners only; or homeowners and rental-housing owners.
Interesting – – Morgan County was the only county to say no to the Stadium Tax in which they would have kept 50% of the receipts.
… a very white guinea pig.
I’m not sure where race comes into this one particularly?
It has been suggested elsewhere that Morgan County might be a good place for “over-taxed” Marion County residents to flee to. Unfortunately, Morgan County has a very hostile reputation for some Indianapolis residents…
In other words, Wilson heard from a friend of a friend that some black guy at work got mistreated at an Applebee’s in Martinsville or something. No credible data to back him up, as usual. Marion County is hostile to whites, though. No wonder so many are leaving town.
I personally think it is admirable that they are progressive enough to do something about lowering reliance on property taxes and should be a fiscal model for the rest of us. I also applauded them taking a stand for not passing the stadium tax when everyone else around here went for the easy cash grab.