Residents will be able to voice their opinion on whether the Bartholomew County Council should divert as much as several million dollars from other taxing units to go toward renovating the county jail.
A public hearing on setting aside a percentage of existing local income tax funds for county jail needs has been set for Sept. 11.
The Bartholomew County Council could set aside anywhere from 0.01 to 0.02 percent of the existing tax revenue to be used for building or renovating jails, before any of the income tax proceeds are dispersed to cities, towns, townships, school districts and libraries.
Under a new state law that went into effect July 1, the amount skimmed off the top for jail purposes cannot exceed 0.2 percent of total LIT revenue.
The 40 percent local income tax increase approved by the council in October began providing extra money to city and county government agencies, as well as 23 other taxing units, in January.
If the county’s plan goes into effect, money would be set aside into what financial consultant Jason Semler calls a correctional and rehabilitation facilities fund.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
