County Option Income Tax (COIT)

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Handout #5
BOONE COUNTY COIT DATA
(Since the County Option Income Tax was imposed effective July 1, 1986)
(compiled April 1, 2003)

	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
January 1 Cash Balance					0.00
Receipts					3,828,000.00
Disbursements					3,828,000.00
December 31 Cash Balance					0.00
Boone County Population	37,746 est.	37,932 est.	38,118 est.	38,304	38,851
COIT Receipts per Citizen *					98

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
January 1 Cash Balance	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Receipts	4,813,361.50	5,388,000.00	6,240,000.00	8,854,800.00	9,255,300.00
Disbursements	4,813,361.50	5,388,000.00	6,240,000.00	8,854,800.00	9,255,300.00
December 31 Cash Balance	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Boone County Population	39,601	40,365	41,141	41,951	42,669
COIT Receipts per Citizen *	121	133	151	211	216

	1997	1998	1999	2000
January 1 Cash Balance	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Receipts	9,999,998.00	10,772,375.04		14,227,913.08
Disbursements	9,999,998.00	10,772,375.04		13,003,592.04
December 31 Cash Balance	0.00	0.00	0.00	1,224,321.04
Boone County Population	43,297	44,167	45,163	46,410
COIT Receipts per Citizen *	230	243		306

			1997-2002	2003
	2001	2002	Average **	Budget
January 1 Cash Balance	1,224,321.04	0.00	244,864.21	7,951,075.00
Receipts	13,467,531.92	30,970,992.00	15,887,762.01	13,710,222.00
Disbursements	14,691,852.96	23,019,917.00	14,297,547.01	13,710,222.00
December 31 Cash Balance	0.00	7,951,075.00	1,835,079.21	7,951,075.00
Boone County Population	47,408	48,427 est.	45,942	49,468 est.
COIT Receipts per Citizen *	284	639	345	277

* COIT Receipts per Citizen = (Receipts) / (Boone County Population)
** 1997-2002 Averages = (1997+1998+2000+2001+2002) Values / 5

Sources:
A. Boone Cty Annual Financial Reports published in Lebanon Reporter and Zionsville Times-Sentinel.
B. 2003 COIT Distribution from the Boone County Auditor on March 21, 2003.
C. STATS Indiana ( online at http://www.stats.indiana.edu/population/PopTotals/intercensal_90s.html )

Listed next is a historical summary of the County Option Income Tax (COIT) in Boone County. This information was obtained from a review of Boone County Council (BCC) meeting minutes found in the Boone County Auditor's office.

The Boone County Income Tax Council voted 94-6 in favor of the Ordinance passed by the Boone County Council on May, 22, 1986.
May 22, 1986. A BCC motion carried to adopt an Ordinance enacting a COIT effective July 1, 1986. "The county option income tax is imposed at a rate of two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) on the resident county taxpayers of the county and at a rate of five-hundredths of one percent (0.05%) on all other county taxpayers."
March 31, 1987. A BCC motion carried "that the COIT rate be increase to .003 per cent, effective July 1, 1987."
March 29, 1988. The BCC unanimously passed a motion "that the County Option Income Tax be increased from .003 to .004 effective July 1^st, 1988."
March 21, 1989. A BCC motion carried "to approve the Coit increase to .5%."
March 20, 1990. The BCC unanimously passed a motion "to increase the COIT rate from .005 to .006 with the .001% to be earmarked for the retiring of the Courthouse Bond or toward the new jail."
March 26, 1991. A BCC motion carried "to have County Coit 7%."
March 17, 1992. A BCC motion carried to increase "the county C.O.I.T. tax from .7% to .08% with the extra 1% to go toward the Jail Debt."
March 24, 1993. A BCC motion carried "to increase the County Option Income Tax from .8% to .9%, the percent would increase each year until 1 cent is reached."

To sum up (notwithstanding the mathematical errors in the BCC meeting minutes), the BCC established the COIT at 0.2% effective July 1, 1986, and county residents have been paying a full 1% of their taxable income in COIT taxes since July 1, 1994.

When the BCC first passed the COIT, the primary "selling point" was that this new tax would be used for road improvements. Lebanon's afternoon newspaper at the time, The Reporter, states in its May 22, 1986, edition that "Commissioner Sam Dodd backed up statements by Kuper and Gamble who said monies from the proposed tax is sorely needed for road repair." Guess how much COIT money is dedicated to county roads in the current 2003 budget – ABSOLUTELY NONE.

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This page was last updated on 03/19/10 .