Published: July 23, 2008 12:31 pm      

Floyd Council Council says no to income tax

An ordinance which could have added an additional tax on residents — and provided $4 million a year in additional income to Floyd County —failed to gain approval from the county council Tuesday night.

The council held a special meeting to vote on the tax, known as LOIT — local option income tax. The tax would have made up for the shortfall the county will see in property-tax income beginning next year.

The part of the ordinance that drew the most interest — a public service rate of .25 percent — would have gone to police and fire for additional manpower. Both units were in full force at the meeting, only to be surprised that no public comments were allowed.

“That’s a good question, why we weren’t able to speak,” said Floyd County Sheriff’s Department Detective Jeff Firkins.

County Council President Larry McAllister said the council was well informed on the issue and didn’t think it would have been beneficial to have public comment.

McAllister stepped aside as president to make a motion to pass the new tax. However, only he and Tom Pickett voted for it. John Schellenberger, Dana Fendley and Lana Aebersold voted against it, while Carol Shope abstained.

Fendley — who stuck around long after the meeting to discuss the issue with numerous police officers — said the vote was premature. She said it’s too early to pass a new tax.

“I want to see how the budget works out before I vote on this,” she said. “This is not a dead issue. We can still pass this in January.”

Had the council voted in favor of the LOIT tax, it would have gone into effect in October. It has to be passed by Aug. 1 in order to produce income for this year.

In making his motion, McAllister said Floyd County and New Albany “need more police officers on the road.”

“In order for us to provide services that we have to provide to our citizens, like police and fire, I am for anything that will bring us money,” he said.

Schellenberger and Aebersold said they couldn’t see adding another tax on the residents’ backs.

“We’re paying more for gas and groceries, and we’re going to tax people who are hurting,” Schellenberger said. “Next year, we can get feedback from constituents and something else might change. Next year, it’s projected we’re going to lose $147,000 and in 2010 it’s $1.2 million from the state.

“But those are all projections. The game keeps changing.”

“This tax was not going to break anyone’s back,” McAllister said. “It’s going to help our citizens.”

Aebersold, however, said her constituents don’t want another tax.

After the meeting, Fendley tried to explain her position to several police officers who didn’t understand the “no” vote.

“Right now, we have 10 officers on the street at one time (city and county) for 70,000 people,” said Steve Bush, a New Albany Police Department detective and county commissioner. “We are just getting by.

“That is why this tax was so important. It would have hired extra people.”

Fendley said the county may have to cut other jobs in order to provide money for additional officers. “If we decide that is what we need to do, we might have to tighten our belt somewhere else,” she said.

“This was the right thing to do right now,” Bush said.

Many accused those who voted against the bill as doing so because it’s an election year. Fendley and Shope are both up for re-election. One officer left the room and asked who Fendley was running against in the November general election.

However, Fendley said politics had nothing to do with her decision.

“I understand their concerns, but nothing says this money would have gone for new programs (or new hires),” she said. “This could have been used as just replacement money.”