(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody is calling for a 0.5 percent increase in the local income tax to solve what he calls a "public safety crisis."
However, La Porte County Commissioner Sheila Matias said the best solution for paying emergency responders a higher salary is the state providing the money through an annual trust fund that local governments can access.
The La Porte County Council has decided to collect input from all municipalities in the county before voting on whether to raise the countywide income tax.
The council Monday night approved a motion from Mark Yagelski to ask the local governing bodies if they support a higher income tax and if they need the money generated by the tax to increase the pay of their police officers, firefighters, and ambulance workers.
“We’ll have some data to go with,” Yagelski said.
In his presentation, Dermody drew a picture of shortages in public safety personnel and quality workforce from experienced personnel leaving at a steady rate for much better pay elsewhere than being replaced by people who also depart for a higher salary after getting enough experience under their belts.
Dermody believes that replacing the emergency responders might not be easy unless the pay is more competitive, judging by a lack of interest in recent openings.
"Right now, there's a paramedic position available that's been open for four months at the county. Not one application," Dermody said.
Dermody said raising the income tax would provide extra dollars not just now to stop the turnover but also in the future since tax dollars are collected annually. He said dipping into federal COVID-19 relief monies and surplus funds is not sustainable because those dollars will eventually run out.
Matias said a projected $5 billion state surplus at the end of June should be used to create a trust fund to be shared with local municipalities to help pay higher salaries along with training and public safety equipment. The fund would be sustainable from a percentage of state surplus dollars annually being directed into the account.
"No county tax increase. Just a smarter way to use the money that's already collected from the hard-working taxpayers of our county," she said.
State Representative Jim Pressel of Rolling Prairie said he doesn't believe such a fund would gain support from most of his colleagues at the statehouse. Pressel said La Porte County's income tax is currently one of the lowest in the state, and lawmakers might frown on other counties having raised their income taxes already to help meet financial needs while La Porte County doesn't want to follow suit.
“That’s a tough question for me to get over and explain,” Pressel said.
Yagelski said it might take a month or so to collect all of the input from local governments. Councilman Mike Rosenbaum said it'll probably take "months" before rendering a decision.
