Pulaski County’s latest tax restructuring proposal would make more money available for public safety but wouldn’t do much to help libraries or townships.
Last week, council members voted to pursue an option that would lower the overall local income tax rate from 3.38 to 2.85 percent, while also increasing property taxes. During a special meeting Monday, the council gave some more direction about where specifically that money would be allocated.
Council Member Rudy DeSabatine recommended a few tweaks to the proposal discussed last week, but not without concerns that it might leave the county and its towns unable to use some of the money it would bring in. For one thing, his proposal would earmark over $900,000 in income tax revenues specifically for the county’s 911 center, even though the county spent less than $800,000 on it last year.
It would also boost the amount of income tax that the county and its towns could use on public safety, while reducing the amount that would be unrestricted, compared to last week’s proposal. DeSabatine also opted against increasing the “certified shares” portion of the local income tax, which would have given libraries a bigger share of the revenue.
One of his concerns seemed to be with what the Pulaski County Public Library decided to include in its bond-funded project. “I’ve got some bad feelings about some things that went on,” DeSabatine said, “and I mean, I’m probably saying some bad things here. But I’m driving by the library and we’re supposed to be spending, what, $700,000 on asbestos cleanup. I’m seeing landscaping done in the front. They’re talking about blacktopping the parking lot.”
“That was all part of our bond that I came before you and I discussed,” Library Executive Director MacKenzie Ledley explained.
“So we’re trying to get more money so we can do more of that later on again,” DeSabatine replied.
In the end, council members voted four-to-three to pursue the proposal with DeSabatine’s adjustments. The plan is to hold a public hearing and a final vote on the tax restructuring on August 10.
