Council reduces special purpose tax
May 23—GREENSBURG — After a brief public hearing during the regularly scheduled meeting of the Decatur County Council on Tuesday, council members voted unanimously to reduce the special purpose jail tax from .65 to .60.
In 2018, county leaders voted to implement a tax to help fund the multi-million dollar construction of the new Decatur County Detention Center on S. Franklin Street. The tax was capped at .65 percent, and any funds collected by it could only be used for the jail project.
The local income tax for people who lived in Decatur County at the time was 1.33 percent. For an individual making $50,000 per year, it raised their contribution to about $300 annually.
During the many public meetings centered around the rehabilitation or replacement of Allen Memorial Pool, other taxes were evaluated to see if anything could be reduced to offset the impact on county residents' overall tax levy.
Even though the addition of the much discussed countywide 1% food and beverages tax has been indefinitely tabled, the numbers presented to the council were reasonable enough to move forward with the reduction of the special purpose tax.
After the public hearing was concluded, a roll call vote was taken and the reduction was unanimously approved.
Later in the meeting, the timeline for adoption of county departmental budgets for 2025 was announced.
Budget requests for 2025 will be presented on August 19.
On August 20, after the regularly scheduled council meeting, the annual budget workshop will be conducted.
September 17 will be the usual public hearing for the 2025 budgets during the regularly scheduled council meeting.
Finally, on October 15, budgets for 2025 will be adopted.
The Decatur County Council meets monthly on the third Tuesday of the month in Room 106 at the Decatur County Courthouse. All meeting are open to the public unless otherwise announced.
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com.
