Sen. Buck has introduced SB 53 which would allow a county to impose an income tax of up to 0.25% on non-residents who work in the county. The fee goes into a fund that is required to be used for various economic development purposes.
I doubt this will fly, but I can certainly see the rationale for such a tax. Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with someone who mentioned that it was a pretty sweet deal for someone living in Warren County to enjoy the pretty low taxes in that county while enjoying the income from a job in Tippecanoe County. Tippecanoe County has a lot more infrastructure to support with tax dollars but, at the same time, this infrastructure supports a much more vibrant economy than you’ll find in Warren County. The sort of Orwellianly named “county employment opportunity fee” would help mitigate this free rider problem.
On the other hand, it probably exacerbates the have versus the have-not counties. The counties with an already vibrant economy will get more revenue for economic development and, presumably, increase their lead over neighboring have-not counties. The have-not counties will continue to have their main economic development prospects involve things like CAFOs, garbage dumps, or, if they’re lucky, wind farms.
“Orwellianly?” I think I like it. Orwell is now an adverb!
Orwell was all about the flexibility of language!