(La Porte, IN) - An increase in the local income for public safety was approved Monday night by the La Porte County Council.

 

The money generated by the increase from .95-percent to 1.45 percent will go toward things like competitive wages to stop paramedics, police, and other public safety workers from leaving for much higher pay elsewhere.

 

Also eligible for the dollars are updated public safety equipment and a new La Porte County Jail if there’s a decision to build a new holding facility years from now.

 

The vote was 6-to-1 in favor of the increase, with Mark Yagelski casting the only vote in opposition.

 

Councilman Earl Cunningham said a considerable amount of time was taken before reaching the decision. He said time was also spent waiting to hear back from all of the municipalities in the county on how they felt about the proposed tax increase.

 

All of the cities and towns in the county adopted resolutions in favor of the higher tax. Cunningham said 56 of the 60 officials in those communities voted to support the increase.

 

“If you were giving away free candy, I don’t know if you could get 93-percent of the people to agree,” Cunningham said.

La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody led the charge for the higher tax, saying now is the time given the threat to the quality of public safety given the turnover.

 

Michigan City City Councilman Paul Przybylinski expressed opposition to the tax. Przybylinski stated that Michigan City has already taken good care of its police officers and firefighters and felt the higher tax was unfair given the high poverty rate in the county and high inflation nationwide.

 

“It’s bad timing to do this. Many people are really hurting, and they’re going to be hurting even more,” Przybylinski said.