Northwest Indiana Discussion

By Jerry Davich on February 3, 2010 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
My Wednesday column explores a proposal by former Gary mayoral candidate Darren Washington.

The Gary school board member is trying to find political traction for his proposal to implement a city income tax for region residents who work in Gary but don't live in the city. A recent guest commentary in the P-T detailed his proposal.
"Since Lake County doesn't want to put this before the voters, let's put this before the voters of Gary on the 2010 primary or general election ballot," he wrote on Jan. 17.
The new tax money would hypothetically go towards residential property tax relief, public safety support, and other urgent needs in his beleaguered city.
With the sinking proposal for a land-based casino in Gary now an unlikely cash cow any time soon, Washington believes his tax idea would be a legitimate form of revenue.
"It will not save Gary entirely, but it's a start," he told me.


Read the column and let me know your thoughts.



To read my columns, visit http://www.post-trib.com/news/davich/index.html. Check out my book, "Connections: Everyone Happens for a Reason," at www.connectionsbook.com. You can also find me on Twitter at @jdavich and Facebook.


http://blogs.post-trib.com/davich/2010/ ... -impl.html

Sure...you go right ahead...

....and the all the other towns can tax the folks from Gary who work in their midst ...

deal?

The games is about to begin!

I want out!

Disabled

I'm going to sound incredibly racist here - are they taxing workers from other communities because no residents work?

You're not being racist. You're being painfully politically correct.

I'm with Moby. Let Gary tax workers from other communities who are employed within the city--and let other communities tax Gary residents that work in their communities. We'll see how that plays out.

I don't think it should be applied across the board, but it should be applied to those who work for the city & school city (excluding firemen & policemen because they are protected by state law).