Jan
18
Will Lake Co. Income Tax Arise From Death?
Filed Under COIT, Income Tax, Lake County Council | Leave a Comment
Just when it seemed that the proposed Lake County income tax was dead and buried after angry villagers with torches and pitch forks vanquished it, the second act of the play begins.
Like an evil creature from a Stephen King novel, the proposed Lake County income tax is slowing coming back to life.
Only time will tell if the evil creation will be powerful enough to defeat the good guys and destroy the local economy by rearing its ugly head just as economists are predicting a recession.
Read more at nwiblogs.com.
Jan
5
Feds Ask Mayor Clay To Step Down As GSD Admin & Taxes Could Still Rise
Filed Under COIT, Gary, Gary Indiana, Gary Sanitary District, Income Tax, Lake County Council, corruption, federal investigations, government waste, political machines, property tax crisis, tax revolt, taxes | 4 Comments
Higher fees might be the result of mismanagement of funds at the Gary Sanitary District and the Lake County Council is still talking about the premature declaration of death of the proposed Lake County income tax needed to continue business as usual.
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay refuses to quit his job as special administrator at the Gary Sanitary District, despite requests from the U.S. Attorney’s office that the mayor do so because of allegations of mismanagement of funds, reports the Post-Tribune.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked Mayor Rudy Clay to resign as special administrator of the Gary Sanitary District alleging mismanagement of funds, a city attorney said Friday.
Hamilton Carmouche, the attorney for the Gary Sanitary District and corporation counsel for the city of Gary, said Clay has refused the request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Ault.
Meanwhile, Carmouche said the district is likely to raise its rates for the first time in about five years. He said it probably should have happened sooner, but he said Ault put additional pressure on the commissioners.
The Post-Tribune reports “the city borrowed about $11 million from the sanitary district to cover operating expenses” in 2006.
The news of the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation another case of mismanagement of funds within a Lake County governmental unit comes right at the time that the Lake County Council is talking about the need to “regroup” because a proposal to raise taxes was defeated by voter opposition. Councilman Will Smith’s departure — he was a key tax proponent despite his own personal opposition to taxes which resulted in a conviction — also hurt the proponents of higher Lake County taxes.
Writes Bill Dolan in the Northwest Indiana Times:
Former Councilman Will Smith Jr. worked behind the scenes last fall to pass the tax following his conviction on a federal tax fraud charge. Smith resigned last week after the tax failed. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday, although Smith is asking for a delay.
It’s just too bad that people didn’t see the need to sacrifice some of their hard earned money in the form of higher property taxes and a brand new income tax so that government officials and their kids can have several lucrative government jobs and money to spread around to their cronies.
It’s selfishness!
Shame on you, anti-tax protesters asking local government to cut back at a time when it is obvious that the only people who think there is waste and abuse of taxpayers’ funds are those folks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office with all of their investigations and such.
Dec
28
No Lake Co. Income Tax For Now
Filed Under COIT, Income Tax, Lake County Council, tax revolt | 3 Comments
I was running a little late to the Lake County Government Center, so I missed the “non-vote” that killed the legislation to impose a new tax on Lake County voters that was before the Council.
The sheriff’s deputy guarding the entrance gave me the news as I was preparing to go through the magnetometer.
A citizen speaking with a Ron Paul supporter holding a Paul sign standing outside of the “A” building confirmed that the Lake County Council refused to vote for or against the new income tax proposal.
This just in from the Northwest Indiana Times:
Tax protesters erupted in cheers Friday afternoon when the proposed 1 percent county income tax died when the County Council refused even to take the vote needed to override a veto of the tax passed last week by the Lake County Council.
However, the Lake County Council’s attorney warned that the tax issue might come back like a bad horror sequel sometime next year.
