Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper on Tuesday bristled at the possibility that voters might not get a say as to whether a new regional transit district is established, if in fact state lawmakers revive the proposal during the upcoming special session.

At Tuesday’s commissioner meeting, Harper called on citizens to contact their state representatives and senators urging them to at least include a referendum provision if they plan to pursue establishment of a Northwest Indiana Regional Transit District, “rather than cramming it down our throat.”

The new transit district was proposed late in the session by Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, as part of H.B. 1607. As originally proposed, the new agency would have the power to impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties to fund area rail and bus services.

The bill was later amended to include a referendum, with individual counties joining the NIRTD only if their voters agree to it. But then, a subsequent proposal sought to create the NIRTD through a majority vote overall in the four counties, not individually. Then, word surfaced that the referendum language would be stricken.

Several local state legislators say they expect the NIRTD to surface again during the upcoming special session, which is needed because lawmakers failed to pass a state budget by last week’s deadline.

Harper said he fears that if the NIRTD is established, Porter County residents will get another income tax imposed, resulting in three taxes totaling 0.34 percent in the past few years.

At the very least, he said, voters should be able to decide whether they want to see the new agency via a referendum.

“Now some legislators, including some of our local legislators, want that provision dropped from the plan. They fear that a referendum would not pass in Porter County, and they are so hungry for this additional tax money that they don’t trust the voters to decide,” Harper said. “...They are trying to simply push this through as fast as they can.”

Before the Indiana Legislature adjourned last week, State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said he would like to see the referendum stay, but he also expressed concern about how a failed referendum would affect bus systems in Lake County that could be on the brink of collapse. Earlier this week, Senator Karen Tallian, D-0gden Dunes, said she doesn’t want to talk about the prospects of a referendum on the grounds that the proposal went through so many changes that it imploded at the session’s end; however, she also said that if the NIRTD is revived, she would not support anything that would be a detriment to the existing South Shore service. State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said a mechanism for rail and bus service is a top priority for the Northwest Indiana delegation.

Harper said at Tuesday’s commissioner meeting that when the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority was first proposed, the message was that the funding would satisfy all projects, which turned out not to be true. Similarly, he said that even with a 0.25 percent income tax in the four counties -- estimated to raise about $52 million annually -- the new transit district wouldn’t have enough funding for all its projects and might not even have enough to keep the Lake County busses in service.

He also noted Valparaiso’s V-line bus service. He said the services generates about $25,000 annually in fares in addition to a subsidy from Valparaiso University. When federal funds for the service dry up, Valparaiso residents could face annual operating costs of $300,000 to $400,000, he said.

Also Tuesday, the commissioners tabled action on a contract with a new tax software vendor, Low Associates, due to a dispute over contract language. County Attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger said Low disagrees with a model contract required by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, which must also approve the contract.

Rinkenberger said the county is putting together a detailed work plan outlining what’s expected of Low. She said she hopes the contract talks will work out by the commissioners’’ next meeting on May 19. “We’ve done everything we can on our end,” she said.

The Low program is replacing a problematic system purchased two years ago and will be used to process Porter County’s property taxes beginning with the bills this year.

A group of Morgan Township residents asked the commissioners for help in stopping the application of sludge on fields near their homes on C.R. 400E. The city of Valparaiso is land-applying the sludge, a byproduct of the sewage treatment process.

The residents said they are concerned that the sludge contains potentially hazardous substances, such as pharmaceutical waste, that could end up in their drinking water. They also raised a concern about the large volume that is being applied, and questioned where they can get detailed information about the materials in the sludge.

“We’d like to have it stopped,” said resident David Pozil.

Harper said the commissioners will take their comments and try to get answers for them.

The commissioners also appointed East Porter County Schools Superintendent Rod Gardin as the advisory board member representing schools on the Porter County Advisory Redevelopment Commission. The commission now has a full membership

Posted 5/6/2009