Elwood, Markleville back raising local income tax

Rebecca Bibbs, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 26—ELWOOD — County residents are one step closer to seeing their local income tax increase as Elwood and Markleville each voted unanimously Monday for the measure that criminal justice officials said will improve public safety throughout Madison County.

Former County Council President Bill Savage was the only member of the public to weigh in on the proposed 0.3% increase at the specially called Elwood Common Council meeting, saying he favored it and that Elwood officials were unlikely to experience any blowback by voting for it. In addition, he noted, one little-considered aspect of the increase is that it will free up money normally spent out of the general fund on public safety.

"That's $500,000 you would have to spend on regular government functions," he said during the hearing before the vote.

In attendance to help persuade the council were Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Hanna, Sheriff Scott Mellinger and Circuit Court Chief Judge David Happe, who have traveled the county to local meetings for weeks.

Pendleton and Lapel have voted in favor of the increase; Ingalls did not vote Monday. Anderson and Alexandria are scheduled to vote Thursday, the deadline for all communities that have given public notice to vote.

If the percentage of favorable votes totals more than 50.01% of the 100 votes on the County Tax Council, the increase will apply to all county residents regardless of whether their specific councils voted.

Members of the Tax Council are assigned a percentage of the vote tied to their population of the county. With the four known "yes" votes already, the increase is assured if the Anderson City Council. with nearly 43% of the population, votes in favor of it.

The money raised by the increase is expected to fund a variety of local and county criminal justice initiatives, including a new jail and salary increases, in an effort to keep staff from defecting to jobs with higher pay.

Elwood Councilman Bill Watters took the opportunity to weigh in on where a new jail should be placed, saying it should be somewhere where it could be expanded, if necessary.

"If you put it in downtown Anderson, it will be locked in again."

Mellinger said raising the income tax would, for the first time in his tenure, give the county and each community in it the ability to plan ahead for public safety needs.

"I would love this county to have a plan it could implement for years to come."

Follow Rebecca R. Bibbs on Twitter at @RebeccaB_THB, or call 765-640-4883.