South Bend Common Council passes income tax hike

by Kelli Cheatham (kcheatham@wsbt.com)

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People protested outside the County City Building before South Bend Common Council members met to discuss increasing the Local Option Income Tax. (WSBT photo)

Story Created: Dec 11, 2008 at 10:58 PM EST

Story Updated: Dec 12, 2008 at 1:19 AM EST

SOUTH BEND — South Bend Common Council members voted 6-to-3 in favor of a proposal to increase the Local Option Income Tax by a half percent.

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How they voted:

Voting in favor of the 0.5 percent LOIT were council members Timothy Rouse, D-at large; Tom LaFountain, D-3rd; Ann Puzzello, D-4th; Oliver Davis, D-6th; Karen White, D-at large; and Al Buddy Kirsits, D-at large.

Council members Henry Davis, D-2nd, and David Varner, R-5th, voted against it.

They also voted 7-to-2 to add a Public Safety Tax of a quarter percent.

Council members voting for the public safety tax were Dieter, LaFountain, Puzzello, Rouse, White, Kirsits, and Oliver Davis.

Varner and Henry Davis voted against the tax.

Mayor Steve Luecke presented the scaled back proposal Thursday night to help the city make up for a loss of $13 million dollars because of property tax caps imposed by state lawmakers.

Luecke says even with the increases passed Tuesday night, the city will only make up about $7 million in 2009.

The proposal still must be passed by the St. Joseph County Council before it could become law. The board is expected to vote on the proposal Monday night.

If the proposal becomes law, taxpayers across St. Joseph County will have to pay the taxes. That includes taxpayers in Mishawaka, even though Mishawaka City Councilman Dave Wood said he plans to present a resolution to the county Monday that says the city opposes all efforts to raise taxes there.

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