Commissioners ask council to approve jail project income tax

Maria Flora, The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
·2 min read

May 7—The Boone County Council will have a public hearing regarding a proposed $58 million jail expansion project.

On behalf of Boone County Commissioners, attorney Robert Clutter will read an ordinance establishing a local income tax to fund the jail.

"Establishing the tax allows us to start the process of getting funding in place," Jeff Wolfe, commissioners president, said. "They don't have to take a vote at the end of the public hearing. That's typically how they do it, but they don't have to."

"This project needs to be vetted in detail before voting on a tax increase, and non-tax funding options are actively being explored," Council President Elisa Nieshalla said via email Friday. "We must also be mindful of how Boone County families are already being hit by higher prices through inflation that amounts to a higher tax itself."

The council formed a Boone County Justice Commission subcommittee of council members and community stakeholders who met for months to study the need and scope for the project. The commission is due to release its findings in a report during Tuesday's council meeting, which is the first time the full council will see it.

"The report will assist the council toward completing our statutory duty to investigate the need for the structure of the justice center and jail expansion," Nieshalla said, adding, "anticipating the in-depth review and discussions to come."

Commissioners have also proposed a build, operate, transfer model for construction, which would cap the cost for the project. In a BOT agreement, the builder incurs the cost of building and ownership of the building is transferred to the county at project's end.

But commissioners would ask the council to approve a BOT on another date.

The local income tax question is separate and approval would not obligate the county to a BOT agreement. "We could do a traditional design project," Wolfe said. "But in today's market, we wouldn't have a guaranteed price, and with a BOT we'd have a guaranteed price."

The scope of the project could still be discussed and adjusted. "Even after a BOT was approved, we can still tweak the project," Wolfe said.

Commissioners are eager to establish the LIT and begin the project to keep costs down. "The delays continue to cost the county $125,000 a week, according to inflation estimates from industry experts," commissioners said in a joint statement Friday. "Just this week, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates a half a percentage point."

Boone County residents now pay a county income tax rate of 1.5%. Of that, 1% goes to the county's general coffers, and .5% is distributed among the county's law enforcement and public safety agencies, Clutter said.

The proposed .2% tax for the jail would bring the total county income tax to 1.7%, or from $1.50 to $1.70 for every $100 earned.