A bill that would give Pulaski County a funding option for the renovation of the courthouse and expansion of the Justice Center now heads to the full Indiana House of Representatives. House Bill 1052 was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last week.
The bill’s author, Representative Doug Gutwein, told committee members that it would allow a special income tax that’s currently in place to pay for the Justice Center to be extended through 2035 for the renovation project. “Most of the folks that I’ve talked to about the three-tenths of a percent, if we just would continue this – it’s not raising any tax, it’s not lowering, but it’s not raising it – they’re fine with that,” Gutwein said. “They’re absolutely fine with that. As a matter of fact, most of them have no idea what they’re even paying, including myself.”
But with Pulaski County’s overall local income tax rate being the highest in the state at 3.38 percent, many county council members have expressed concern with the idea of extending part of it. Even if the bill is approved at the state level, the county council would still have to vote on extending the tax, under an amendment approved by the Ways and Means Committee last week. Council members would presumably have the option to lower the tax rate, as well.
