SOUTH BEND — On the fourth floor of the County-City building in South Bend, the chairs are placed neatly outside the council chambers … awaiting an overflow crowd. The debate: should county taxpayers have to pay more?

“I don’t think the time is right in St. Joseph County,” said Dale DeVon, a Republican St. Joseph County Council member. "It’s just a bad time to raise taxes on people. They’re looking for every penny they can get and for us to to go in and take more from them … it’s not a good time to do that.”

DeVon and fellow Republicans on the county council plan to vote “no” this week on the proposal to raise income taxes .95 percent. South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke said the increase is needed to make up for an estimated $20 million budget deficit next year. Not doing so, he said, would mean some 200 city job cuts including police and firefighters.

The county deficit is estimated to be $10 million and Republican county council members say they don’t need it; they’ve laid out a plan to get out of the red without a tax hike.

Dale DeVon, Mark Root, and Dennis Schafer (From South Bend Tribune’s “Viewpoint"):

“The first thing we can do to balance the budget without raising taxes is to take $1.5 million from the County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) for the years 2009 and 2010. This total of $3 million from the CEDIT will still allow us to pay for the current obligations while still maintaining a balance of $3 million in the county's Rainy Day fund and CEDIT fund.

"The second thing we can do is apply the $3 million that we are getting back from the state as a replacement for the child welfare levy to the general fund shortfall.

"Third, we will shift money from the county parks levy to the county's general fund levy. We recommend park funds be replaced with dollars from the Hotel/Motel Tax that are currently subsidizing the College Football Hall of Fame and the Century Center.

"Fourth, we will take the money that the county receives from Notre Dame in 2009 and 2010, a total of $340,000, and apply that to the general fund.

"Finally, we will offer our fellow council members the option of either reducing county departments by 2 percent across the board, or reducing the total number of county employees, initially looking at vacant positions and then consolidation where appropriate. Many residents in St. Joseph County have taken a pay cut in the past few months, and it would be unfair for the county.”

Council President Rafael Morton said the plan would leave the county’s cash on hand dangerously low.

Read the county GOP's budget proposal