Howard County Council backs 0.4% local income tax increase to help fund planned jail; public raises alternatives and stewardship concerns

Howard County Council voted Oct. 28 to approve Resolution 2025-HCCR-22, endorsing an increase in the county’s portion of the local income tax to raise revenue for a planned new jail project. Barnes & Thornburg attorney Max Adams explained the proposal and its limits; extensive public comment followed.

Adams told the council the proposal reflects a coordinated approach with Kokomo: "The city is actually going to contribute its share of the increased local income tax towards the project," he said, and that cooperation reduced the county’s required increase to 0.4% rather than a full 1.2% in notices. He cited a Baker Tilly estimate that a 0.4% county increase would translate to about $180 per year for an individual with $50,000 in income and said the rate would generate "just shy of $10,000,000 annually" toward the project. Adams and county officials said the rate would be in effect only until the state’s new local tax structure…