A new state law combined the multiple local option income tax categories into one, called the local income tax. Revenue from a LIT may be spent for property tax relief; for “expenditures,” which include public safety costs; and for special purposes, to be determined by individual counties.
Boone County’s rate increased one-half of one percent, to 1.5 percent. The new rate is effective Jan. 1. The additional $4.5 million the increase is expected to raise will be devoted to public safety spending. Boone’s rate is among the lowest in Indiana, tied with nine other counties,
Sheriff Mike Nielsen spearheaded the LIT campaign, saying its passage was vital to a five-year “business plan” he proposed that would allow his agency to expand crime-fighting activities, and to become more proactive in battling a drug epidemic. It will increase the number of deputies for road patrols and building security, as well as technical personnel, including a crime statistics analyst, as well as the equipment those positions will need.
Friday, Nielsen said that next year will be an implementation period, as the sheriff’s office gathers not only personnel but the proper equipment.
“Come January 2018, we will have the entire strategic business plan put into place, and we will be able to start collecting the data,” Nielsen said. “That is when my feet will be held to the fire by the citizens and the elected officials.”
Nielsen hopes for a reduction not only in crime rates, but in recidivism.
“That is one of the things our crime analyst will focus on,” he said.
The Boone County Fire Chief’s Association endorsed the plan, saying in a Sept. 3 letter to the Income Tax Council that “It is critical that we move forward to ensure the public safety agencies of Boone County begin to receive necessary funds to safeguard the health, safety and wellness of residents and the emergency responders.”
Increasing security at the courthouse is one of the projects for which the LIT provides funding.
In late November the three judges who occupy the courthouse endorsed a plan to tighten security there. Nielsen’s plan is to restrict access to one entrance, installing an X-ray machine and metal detector to screen visitors. No cost for that plan was available, but Nielsen told the county council that he hoped it would be implemented within the first six months of 2017.
Public safety agencies throughout the county will use the additional money to provide the scope of their services.
Lebanon Police Chief Tyson Warmoth said he and his staff have been busy assessing his department's needs, and soon will present the full plan to city officials.
He said the department hopes to add four new officers in the next year, and when they are trained and patrolling on their own, to then assign one of the more experienced officers to a new detective post and another to the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force, which currently only has one Lebanon representative serving. He also hopes to create a new part-time crime scene technician/property room manager position to be filled by a civilian. Presently, three police officers have been cross-trained in those areas and manage evidence as their time allows.
Equipment to keep officers safe, including additional armor and pond rescue equipment, also is high priority.
"There are some definite needs that we can fulfill with the LIT funds," Warmoth said.
If the LIT funding continues, he said, he'd like to examine replacing the existing public safety building at Main and East streets with a more modern structure. The current building dates to the 1960s, and was originally the headquarters of Lebanon Utilities. It was for years the headquarters for the police department and also was Lebanon's only fire station.
Whitestown will hire six more police officers, Police Chief Dennis Anderson told the town council in October. Without the $1.7 million increase that the LIT will provide, Anderson could have hired only one new officer next year, he said.
Whitestown Fire will add three firefighters and three civilian paramedics.
Zionsville Police Chief Rob Knox and Fire Chief James VanGorder both said staff expansions would be key elements for their departments.
Knox wants to add seven officers and an additional office staffer over the next three years, he told the town council.
VanGorder said his department had only 116 people to staff four stations — and only half of those people are full-time. He wants to add 12 firefighters, with six bringing the department up to minimum standards, and six to meet the area’s booming growth needs. Three more paramedics were needed as well.
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©2016 The Lebanon Reporter (Lebanon, Ind.)
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