By VICKI URBANIK

A group of public and private-sector officials last year had a plan in place to get a bill passed by the Indiana Legislature this session that would give the operators of the South Shore commuter service the authority to impose a new income tax in Lake and Porter counties for the West Lake extension to Lowell and Valparaiso.

The effort included a public relations campaign aimed at drumming up support for the $1 billion rail project and at “overwhelming the opposition” with a rapid response team to counter critics of the project.

The income tax plan and the marketing campaign were included in a variety of documents that were publicly released Tuesday by Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper, who has been staunchly opposed to a new tax for the South Shore extension.

Harper obtained the paperwork after submitting an open records request of three public agencies: the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District.

He said he did not make a open records request to the Northwest Indiana Forum, private economic development group, but noted that some of the documents returned to him by the public agencies included Forum documents.

“I got involved in this because I didn’t think the public was getting the full story,” Harper said.

One of the documents, a request for proposals for consultants to lead the public relations campaign, states:

“A group of business leaders, elected officials and NICTD are soliciting proposals to plan and conduct a successful public and media relations campaign in support of amending Indiana State law to provide NICTD with the authority to implement a County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT).”

Harper said the main issue for him isn’t that the coalition was planning income tax legislation, as he acknowledged that some people do favor a new tax for the South Shore.

“The crime is not telling people about it,” Harper said.

He pointed to assorted news stories, as well as a South Shore presentation made by the Forum before the Porter County Council in October, at which officials promoting the rail extension said they didn’t know what the funding mechanism would be.

Harper said it’s clear from the documents he was given that the plan called for a new NICTD income tax, with one document suggesting that the NICTD Board would vote on the tax this April or May.

Harper speculated that if the income tax plan became public “they knew they were going to get a rebellion.”

“How dare they didn’t let the public debate it,” he said.

Nothing Secret

This morning, RDA Executive Director Tim Sanders strongly disputed that there was secrecy involving the tax possibility.

He pointed to the RDA’s own strategic comprehensive plan, released earlier in the year, that specifically mentioned that a new income tax of 0.15 percent in Lake and Porter counties would provide the funding needed for the South Shore extension. The plan is available on the RDA’s webpage.

Sanders said he gave Harper a copy of the plan, even taking it to Harper’s office and making it clear: “This is our plan.”

Sanders pointed out that the deadline has passed for the introduction of bills, and that there is no bill that would give NICTD income tax authority.

“If such a bill had been introduced, do you think it would have been done in secret?” he said.

Sanders said a number of funding options have been discussed for the West Lake project, including a wheel tax, gas tax, and regional sales tax.

“The fruits of those discussion are pretty evident,” he said, referring to a Senate Committee’s unanimous decision Tuesday to heavily amend the South Shore bill by sending the issue to a summer legislative study commission.

As for the NICTD income tax proposal, Sanders noted that it never came to pass.

“It was just kind of out there, as a plan that never materialized,” he said.

He took exception to Harper’s characterization that that there was an “active cabul” of sorts secretly plotting a tax. “I think that’s kind of a stretch.”

Justin Kitsch, spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, echoed Sanders’ concerns.

“Number one, this seems to be a moot point,” he said.

The original South Shore bill called for capturing the state sales tax in the region to fund the rail extension, before it was amended to a study committee.

“It’s a little confusing that Mr. Harper is pointing out something that never happened,” he said.

West Lake supporters have noted that timing is critical if Northwest Indiana expects to access $500 million in federal funds for the project.

Kitsch said if the South Shore project is indeed sent to the study committee, the prospects of securing the federal funds will likely be delayed, but that it’s also possible the project will be moved to the end of the line in terms of projects awaiting federal dollars.

“It will definitely delay it, but it could also push it back even further,” he said.

‘Overwhelm’ Critics

Harper appeared equally upset by the records he was given that outlined a public relations campaign that included a “rapid response” to those who would criticize the South Shore extension.

“The goal of the campaign is to have public support and favorable media coverage leading up to the successful passage of the legislation,” the RFP for consultants states. Key elements of the campaign would include ways to “combat opposition” and demonstrate support to “ensure positive media coverage and support from Indiana General Assembly.”

“In addition to generating positive media coverage, the campaign must be prepared to combat any negative media or public opposition,” the RFP goes on, outlining the use of phone trees, fax, and emails and press conferences and statements to “combat any news generated by opposition groups.”

Harper noted that the PR campaign is partially funded with taxpayer funds, with the RDA contributing $130,000 and the Lake County tourism bureau contributing another $20,000. NICTD also contributed funds.

Harper questioned why taxpayer money was spent on a campaign aimed at countering taxpayers who spoke against the extension.

“How dare they sit around in back rooms … and plan to stifle public comments.”

Sanders said there was no effort to stifle public comment. He pointed to the letters to the editor and other ways that citizens have spoken out against the project.

“If the effort was to stifle the public, the effort wasn’t very successful,” he said.

The Team

The letters, reports, and emails released by Harper identify a number of people from both the public and private sector who were involved in, or at least included in, the discussions about the South Shore campaign.

Among those mentioned as members of the Connections Team are, representing government: John Swanson, NIRPC; Tim Sanders and Leigh Morris, RDA; John Parsons, NICTD; Lake County tourism representatives Bill Wellman and Speros Batistatos; State Representatives Chet Dobis and Ed Soliday; State Senators Karen Tallian and Ed Charbonneau; and various staff members from Visclosky’s office.

Those representing the private sector included representatives from the Northwest Indiana Forum, Construction Advancement Foundation, NiSource, Citizens For the Extension the South Shore Line, Innovative Workforce, Northwest Indiana Quality of Life Council, The Times newspaper, and the consulting and legal firm of Ice Miller.

Posted 2/20/2008