07-13-09 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING JULY 13, 2009 Mr. Greg Burkowski, 20155 Roosevelt Road, South Bend, Indiana, stated that St. Joseph County’s population has been declining since the 1960’s. He stated that no one wants to live here because there is no economic growth or jobs. He stated that South Bend once had manufacturing jobs and has since lost those jobs to other areas. He stated that the abandoned housing problem in South Bend has skyrocketed in the last few years. He stated that the crime rate is astronomical. He stated that the city has not done enough to entice businesses to locate in South Bend. He stated that this tax needs to be reevaluated because he cannot support taking away money from a single parent, the elderly or the unemployed. He stated that maybe not taxing the first $35,000 of income could be a start and go on from there to fine tune this tax. He stated that otherwise he cannot condone this kind of tax. Mr. Stephen Leykauf, 52396 Liberty Mills Ct., Granger, Indiana, stated that he debated coming to the meeting tonight because he had heard that the South Bend Common Council usually has their minds made up before hearing from the public. He stated that the City spends money on things like round abouts; a facade for a not-for-profit televisions studio; tearing down the Gates Building for the Joseph E. Kernan Memorial Parking Lot; and contributing to Century Center who has not operated in the black for several years. He stated that the City lacks competitive bidding and that represents hundreds of thousands of dollars and that’s hard to quantify something like that. He stated that the city over uses consultants. He stated that the city blames the state for cutting property taxes. He believes that the State tried to help the taxpayers of St. Joseph County and the City of South Bend by curtailing the senseless spending. Carol Kelly Havens, 12032 Timberline Trace, Granger, Indiana, questioned why the taxpayers were only given a 10 day notification of this public hearing. She stated that there was a holiday included in that 10 day window and residents are just now becoming aware of this meeting. She stated that these bills would double the amount that the residents are already paying in option taxes, almost 1% of everything that they make and the Council only gives them 10 days to try to respond. She said that to her family 1% of their family budget means giving up the family vacation. She stated that her family has experienced some tough times this year with their health which has meant a loss of income and large medical bills and now the elected officials of this community want to take more money out of her family’s pockets and enact an increase in the local option income tax. She stated that there are other alternative revenue sources and those should be explored. Mr. Myer Blatt, 813 Berlin, Mishawka, Indiana, stated that at one time he was a resident of South Bend resident and kind of happy that he is no longer. He stated that he understands that the city has some tough decision to make, but everyone has hard decision to make in their lives also. He stated that he doesn’t have a lot of money and what that means is that he doesn’t spend it either. He stated that if this tax would have passed last year, it would have meant everything that he considers disposable income, gasoline to and from appointments, going out for dinner and upkeep on his house. He stated that he heard Mayor Luecke compare South Bend to Muncie. He would like to compare South Bend to Mishawaka where a couple of decades of administration that resulted in a budget that seems to be running nicely in the black and don’t seem to have the deficit spending. He stated that Mishawaka’s Mayor stated that he is going to make those difficult cuts to keep the city functional, keep them within a budget, and keep them within their means. He urged the Council to defeat this tax increase. Ms. Amy Eisenhour, 520 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, stated that she only makes $10,000 a year and this tax increase would mean $100.00 coming out of her income. She stated that $100.00 is two and half weeks of groceries or two weeks of gasoline. She stated that her options would be walking to work, however she lives in South Bend and works in Elkhart or she could not buy groceries for two and half weeks. She stated that this tax puts and unfair squeeze on her and she already feels squeezed. She urged the Council to vote against the tax. 25