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Council forms LIT task force, approves Baker Tilly contract to guide local income tax planning
Summary
Facing mandated changes to state revenue collection, the Whitley County Council voted to form a municipal unit strategic task force for a possible local income tax and approved a Baker Tilly scope of work to prepare county financial impact reports and assist with task force work; the chair was appointed to the task force.
The council spent substantial time on May 6 discussing a mandated municipal unit strategic task force (LIT) that the state requires counties to form as part of implementing a new local income tax structure, which could take effect in 2029.
County staff (Tiffany and others) and the chair explained that the task force must include one county council member and representatives such as city and town fiscal officers; towns and libraries may attend as nonvoting participants. The initial vote to adopt the LIT would cover three years, after which the county must readopt annually.
Staff said the change is largely intended to preserve existing revenue flows under a different collection mechanism rather than increase the overall tax burden; the county's current overall rate across jurisdictions was cited and staff outlined that counties can levy up to certain rates (staff referenced the 2.9% cap across overlapping jurisdictions and initial county options of 1.2%). Baker Tilly will help create financial-impact reports to be delivered to the state by the December 1 deadline.
Council members discussed appointing a council representative to the task force and whether the chair should serve. After a motion and second, the council appointed the chair as the county's voting member on the task force and voted unanimously to approve the Baker Tilly scope of work to support the county through the task force process.
Staff said they have reached out to town fiscal officers and encouraged township trustees and libraries to participate in meetings to provide input on how the new tax will affect different entities. The council agreed to stay involved and to rely on Baker Tilly's technical support during planning and reporting.
