The first step toward creating the first new county tax since 2009 has been taken by the Bartholomew County Commissioners.
An ordinance to establish a separate fund to hold revenue from a proposed Cumulative Capital Development Tax was given unanimous approval Monday,
However, it will be up to the Bartholomew County Council to actually approve the new tax and set the rate, County Attorney Grant Tucker said.
The second and final vote on the ordinance will not be made by the commissioners until June 19. If approved, the council would have to hold a series of public hearings that would likely keep a vote from occurring until their 2018 budget talks begin in August.
In essence, the fund would be used to to help pay for costly repairs to county government-owned buildings. When asked what the financial impact would be on a family making a certain income level, County Auditor Barb Hackman said those types of questions cannot be answered until a financial study commissioned by the council is completed later this summer – and a rate is set by the council.
Under state recommendations made in February, a property owner with a home assessed at $100,000 who takes normal deductions would pay $5.44, Hackman said. For owners of a residence assessed at $200,000, the tax liability would be $16.26 annually, she said.That would be followed by up to .033 cents annually — double the amount — in subsequent years, creating between $1.2 million and $1.3 million in additional revenue, the auditor said.
Columbus City Council will members consider raising the cities cumulative capital fund rate from .0316 per $100 assessed value to the maximum allowed by law, .05 on each $100 assessed valuation. The council will consider first reading of an ordinance increasing that rate at a meeting at city hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
