(Editor’s Note: On August 21st, Fred Swift wrote a commentary published in the Hamilton County Reporter and posted here on my news blog as part of a news-gathering partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com – the Reporter published a response to Fred Swift’s commentary in the August 24th edition of the Reporter from Hamilton County Councilman Rick McKinney. Below is the response, in the form of a Letter to the Editor)
Dear Editor:
The title is misleading and implies, to the casual observer, that the Hamilton County government is seeking a tax increase, which is certainly NOT true!
A better title would have been: “Cities seeking to increase local income tax”.
Mr. Swift’s premise that Hamilton County government could easily absorb the costs of the 911 Communications system by itself is simply nonsensical.
The Commissioners wrested control of the 911 department from the Sheriff approximately eight years ago, which was a first in the 30-year history of 911. They proceeded to create a new entity to fund the 911 Communications Center that would be controlled by the cities, funded by contracts with the cities and the county plus the excise taxes from cellphones and landlines, and managed by the commissioners. As a result, the northern communities have been subsidized by both the cities and the county.
The State of Indiana also changed the funding flow so it would receive all the excise taxes from cell phones and landlines, then distributes them back to individual counties under a formula devised by them: It is not a “contribution” from the State as Mr. Swift implies. Nor does Hamilton County receive 100 percent of the taxes generated by its cell phone users.
The surplus Mr. Swift mentioned is already allocated for specific needs and purposes: Proper cash flow to fund routine operations and avoid short term borrowing ($15 million), allocation for Judicial Center expansion ($12 million), reserves for possible cost overruns on State Road 37 ($10 to 12 million) and future road projects at 146th Street and Allisonville Road.
The Hamilton County Council is NOT in favor of an increase in the Local Income Tax. Period.
Rick McKinney
At-Large Member, Hamilton County Council