County Income Tax Councils Threat

County income tax councils are empowered to adopt, modify, or rescind (1) a county income tax and (2) a county motor vehicle excise surtax and wheel tax.

The membership of each county's county income tax council consists of the fiscal body of the county and the fiscal body of each city or town that lies either partially or entirely within that county.

Every county income tax council has a total of 100 votes. Every member of the county income tax council is allocated a percentage of the 100 votes that may be cast rounded to the nearest one hundredth (0.01). The vote percentage that a city or town is allocated for a year equals the same percentage that the population of the city or town bears to the population of the county. The vote percentage that the county is allocated for a year equals the same percentage that the population of all areas in the county not located in a city or town bears to the population of the county.

Any member of a county income tax council is permitted to present an ordinance for passage that would impose an allowed county-wide tax. To do so, the member must pass a resolution to propose the ordinance to the county income tax council and distribute a copy of the proposed ordinance to the county auditor. The county auditor must treat any proposed ordinance as a casting of all that member's votes in favor of the ordinance, and the votes may not be changed for a year. The county auditor must deliver copies of the ordinance to all members of the county income tax council within 10 days after receipt. Once a member receives a proposed ordinance from the county auditor, the member must vote on it within thirty (30) days after receipt.

County income tax councils threaten the American concept of majority rule because it is possible for elected officials representing a minority of a county’s population to pass an allowed county-wide tax even if elected officials representing the majority of the county population vote NO. The following allocation of county income tax council votes in Boone County (using the 2010 census counts from the U.S. Census Bureau) demonstrate the reality of this threat:

Advance (3 council members): 477 population (0.84% of county total) = 1 county income tax council vote

Jamestown (3 council members): 933 population (1.65% of county total) = 1 county income tax council votes

Lebanon (7 council members): 15,792 population (27.88% of county total) = 28 county income tax council votes

Thorntown (5 council members): 1,520 population (2.69% of county total) = 3 county income tax council votes

Ulen (0 council members): 117 population (0.21% of county total) = 0 county income tax council votes

Whitestown (5 council members): 2,867 population (5.06% of county total) = 5 county income tax council votes

Zionsville (7 council members): 14,160 population (25.00% of county total) = 25 county income tax council votes

Other County (7 County Council members): 20,774 population (36.68% of county total) = 37 county income tax council votes

Total Boone County (37 total council members): 56,640 population = 100 county income tax council votes

The Lebanon City Council has seven members. Two members are elected at-large and five are elected from equally-populated districts. Each of the five Lebanon City Council members who is elected from a district represents 5.58% of the total Boone County population (27.88% divided by 5).

The Zionsville Town Council also has seven members, two of which are elected at-large and five are elected from equally-populated districts. Each of the five Zionsville Town Council members who is elected from a district represents 5.00% of the total Boone County population (25.00% divided by 5).

Four Lebanon City Council members elected from a district could pass an ordinance to impose an allowed county-wide tax. This tax-imposing ordinance could then be passed by four Zionsville Town Council members elected from a district. Even if every one of the remaining 29 county council and town council members in Boone County voted NO against the ordinance, the county-wide tax would be imposed because it received 53 of the 100 county income tax council votes (28 votes from the Lebanon City Council and 25 votes from the Zionsville Town Council).

The four Lebanon City Council members who were elected from a district and voted to pass the county-wide tax represent 22.32% of the county population (4 X 5.58%). The four Zionsville Town Council members who were elected from a district and voted to pass the county-wide tax represent 20.00% of the county population (4 X 5.00%). Therefore, eight elected officials representing only 42.32% of the county population could pass an allowed Boone County tax even if the remaining 29 elected officials representing 57.68% of the county population voted NO.

Contrast this Taxpayer UNfriendly minority-rule scenario with the current situation where a vote of the county council is needed to impose most county-wide taxes. Because three county council members are elected at-large and four are elected from districts, most county-wide taxes can only be passed by county council members who collectively represent ALL of the county population.

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This page was last updated on 07/17/16 .