SOUTH BEND — St. Joseph County voters will head to the polls Tuesday to answer a lengthy question about the future of regional transportation. Election workers have no idea what voter turnout will be. But, they are certain they will see lots of confusion.

A Single Question

There's only one question on the ballot for the special election. It reads as follows:

"Shall there be created the Northern Indiana Regional Transportation District under IC 8-24 to provide a regional rail system serving Lake, Porter, LaPorte, and St. Joseph Counties and regional bus public transport system service Lake and Porter Counties with St. Joseph County becoming a member of the district?"

The paper ballot includes two large boxes marked "yes" and "no." But, for many voters, the issue is anything but clear cut.

By Monday afternoon, the St. Joseph County Clerk's Office had already been flooded by callers searching for clarity.

"People might be calling and asking what the question means. We don't know. We can't give you any advice on that, and we've instructed the poll workers not to do that," said St. Joseph County Clerk Rita Glenn.

They weren't alone.

"We've received a tremendous number of calls over the last week or so," said St. Joseph County Republican Party Chairman Chris Riley.

In almost every case, the questions have been about the question on Tuesday's ballot. They continued on Monday.

Early Crowds

"We had about 170 people walk in during a 4 hour period [Monday] to [vote early]," Glenn said. "So, we ended up with about 720 [early] votes and maybe another 30 that might be coming through the mail."

Those numbers are much higher than Glenn expected.

"Maybe, if that's any indication, maybe some of our money might be well spent," Glenn said.

St. Joseph County will spend between $30,000 and $40,000 to hold Tuesday's special election, opening just 30 of the usual 230 polling places, and using just 120 of the usual 1,800 poll workers.

Costs are greatly reduced because of the cutbacks.

Porter County officials plan to hold a similar "smaller scale" election. But, local leaders in LaPorte and Lake Counties elected to simply refuse to hold a vote, saying they had no money to pose the state mandated referendum question until next spring's primary.

Officials in St. Joseph County aren't sure what turnout might be Tuesday, but projected it wouldn't surpass single digit percentages.

One thing they were certain of Monday, was that many voters could be left scratching their heads once they read the question. A forum on the RTA referendum at Indiana University-South Bend on Monday showed why.

Not Enough Information

"People felt like they just didn't have enough information to cast an informed vote," said forum moderator and Democracy Project Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Bennion, a political science professor at IUSB.

"On one side, people said we need to send a message that we care about regional development and public transit. On the other side, people really were concerned about how much this would actually help people in St. Joseph County," Bennion said.

But, for most in attendance, Bennion continued, the issue came down to taxation.

"They did not want to see another tax. That clearly was a big factor in driving them to the forum and to the polls [Tuesday]," Bennion said.

The Costs

Opponents of the RTA plan also say much the ballot question seems misleading.

"The language of the referendum itself does not alert the voter to the fact that there's an implicit 0.25% tax increase that will be authorized by this referendum if passed," said Riley.

It's one reason why the county's Republican party launched a campaign last week on billboards, on-air and online urging voters to say "no."

"Taxpayers can't afford it. They're tapped out," said Riley, referencing the recently enacted 0.95% increase in St. Joseph County's Local Option Income Tax, or LOIT rate.

"In addition, St. Joseph County stands to get a disproportionately low number of the benefits that result in the increase in taxation," said Riley.

Under the proposal, St. Joseph County would pay approximately $16 million in taxes to the RTA each year--more than all other counties except Lake, and nearly as much as LaPorte and Porter Counties combined.

But, supporters of the referendum say it St. Joseph County will benefit.

The Benefits

"It does benefit St. Joseph County, in that--I would hope--the first 8-12 years of tax money generated would be spent in St. Joe County on the South Shore," said South Bend Regional Airport Executive Director John Schalliol, who also oversees operations at South Bend's South Shore station.

"There definitely is a need for money to sustain and improve the South Shore service between Chicago and South Bend. And the South Shore only makes about half its costs in fares," Schalliol said.

What it would make back through improvement, Schalliol said, is economic viability.

"This would help get the total run time from South Bend to downtown Chicago to less than two hours. That's important. That would be huge. We'd get people out of cars. It would be a gas savings. There would be a lot of benefits to having the South Shore as a real, viable option. It would be a real boon to the county," Schalliol said.

Even more important, he continued, are long overdue upgrades to the South Shore system.

"We need line work. And, we also would be able to close 16, or roughly 16 of the 23 at-grade crossings. So, it would be a safety issue also," Schalliol said.

But, Bennion says--for most likely voters Tuesday--it will really be a taxing issue.

Preparing to Vote

"With the passage of the local option tax, that's already primed on voters minds. If people receive a lot of information about why something is important, they are sometimes willing to pay that tax. But, one of the problems, perhaps, for the referendum [Tuesday] is that people don't have a lot of information and concrete knowledge about what improvements will be made to benefit them," she said.

It's that question that may now determine this question's fate.

"Nobody disputes the fact that public transportation is a vital part of our community. But, let's figure out a financing mechanism that doesn't require taxpayers to pay another 0.25% in their local option income tax. Let's figure out a way for St. Joseph County to get--not just a smidgen of benefits, but its fair share," Riley said.

Polls are open from 6am-6pm, and you must show a photo ID to vote.

To check where your polling place may be, as many normal polling places won't be open, click here.