Porter County Government - Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce Committee - October 13th, 2026

The Porter County Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce Committee met on October 13, 2026, with Baker Tilly presenting modeled local income tax (LIT) scenarios to address projected revenue losses associated with Senate Enrolled Act 1. Discussion compared scenarios for municipal and county services, schools, townships, libraries, the airport authority, and fire and EMS. The group examined a version of Scenario 6 that included schools—requiring a statutory change—and increased the illustrative fire and EMS rate to 0.10%. The model allocated approximately $1.7 million to the county’s ambulance service; participants noted the current ambulance contract is about $2.2 million annually. The modeled total LIT rate and taxpayer impact varied by scenario, and members discussed the tradeoff between replacing property-tax revenue and increasing income-tax costs. These were planning estimates, not contract awards or spending approvals.

No votes or procurement actions were recorded. Members discussed potential recommendations for the taskforce report, including statutory changes that could allow schools to receive LIT distributions, and agreed to take the updated scenarios back to their respective communities and councils for discussion. The committee scheduled a follow-up meeting for October 19 at 3:30 p.m., where it expected to continue modeling and potentially vote on a recommendation. The taskforce report is intended to inform legislators; the discussion did not establish a binding tax rate.