Option tax meeting cancelled
Option tax meeting cancelled Save Email Print
No quorum for St. Joe Co.
Posted: 6:10 PM Dec 29, 2008
 Last Updated: 7:00 PM Dec 29, 2008
 Reporter: Mark Peterson
Email Address: mpeterson@wndu.com
21 comments
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For the second time in two weeks the St. Joseph County Council cancelled a meeting called to discuss a possible increase in the option income tax.

This time, the meeting slated for Tuesday, December 30th went by the wayside.

It takes six council members to constitute a quorum and thanks to the holidays, the numbers just weren't there.

Earlier today, opponents of the proposed tax hike called a news conference to say that their calendars had been cleared for Tuesday night's meeting.

"We will be there; we will be prepared to speak. They're going to hear an earful I can promise you that," said Kelly Havens of Citizens for Common Sense.

Juan Manigault of Integrity PAC added, "I had to come back, I have a mother in law who has cancer. We were up in Minnesota and I had to leave my wife there and come back to address this issue."

Turns out the issue won't be addressed after all. The meeting was cancelled after a fourth councilman served notice that he wouldn't be there.

"Well, then the people don't have to pay any more taxes next year," said an unapologetic Councilman Dale Devon.

"With my wife's birthday on the 31st, and my kids are down in Indy so we plan to head down that way and spend some time with them," Devon said.

The cancellation will apparently spare the county the wrath of Roseland. At least one Roseland Town Council member had planned to use the meeting to publicly express his option tax concerns.

"I believe its called taxation without representation," said Ted Penn. "I think our vote would be no more taxes Mayor Luecke, no more, Roseland does not want taxes, we need the money, but we don't need the taxes."

The cancellation means another meeting on the income tax proposal can't be called until April.
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Posted by: Citizen Location: Roseland on Jan 3, 2009 at 03:32 PM
Well Tedd is on the right side of a fight for a change... but living in Roseland I can say taxation With representation isn't that hot lately either.
Posted by: Mike Location: County Resident on Dec 31, 2008 at 11:05 AM
To Yeah Right: Specifically, what services are SB residents paying for that I'm the beneficiary of and from what revenue source are they being allocated??????
Posted by: Dan Location: w on Dec 30, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Let's all buy Heath Weaver a bottle of Vodka to celebrate.
Posted by: Yeah Right on Dec 30, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Just when you thought it was safe, Ted Penn crawls out from under his rock to get Roseland's name in the news. Being the largest govenmental entity in the county, South Bend supports the county a heck of a lot more than the County, or Mishawaka, or Granger, or Lakeville, or New Carlisle, or North Liberty, or Walkerton, or Roseland, or Indian Village supports South Bend. They all, however, have to work together and support each other. Unfortunately nobody wants to support South Bend. Cuts to basic services have already been made, and there are more to come. The whole county will suffer due to the political ambitions and idiocy of a few. Everyone that enters South Bend, even just passing through, (or Kelly Havens coming to a meeting at the County City Building), uses South Bend's basic services. For a long time the SBN residents have had to pay for county residents using these services. The LOIT is a fair and equitable way to divy up those costs amongst everyone.
Posted by: Dave Location: SB on Dec 30, 2008 at 12:31 PM
To Citizen. This not about people showing up to work. Juan cancelled the first meeting scheduled on the LOIT. When he scheduled this one, he himself admitted that this meeting may not take place since most of the council had plans to be out of town already. If he wanted to vote on the LOIT he should have went ahead with the first meeting when every council member was in town. I for one am glad this is not taking place right now and if and when they do meet I will be there to speak out against it. I have to live within a budget and so should the city and county.
Posted by: Bookkeeper Location: Colfax Ave on Dec 30, 2008 at 11:42 AM
"Jacob" of Boulder Bay raises the issue of what kind of assessments City and County Council members have ans what taxes they pay. This must be in the public record. How about Mark Peterson or another journalist investigating WHAT LOCAL OFFICIALS PAY IN PROPERTY TAXES COMPARED TO THEIR NEIGHBORS. Perhaps even going back a few years to 2000 or something like that. I bet we'll see a few SWEETHEART DEALS.
Posted by: Anonymous on Dec 30, 2008 at 11:31 AM
To Citizen: The meeting was called with just ten days notice. To call a meeting during the holiday season wasn't real good thinking. There would be a good chance of members being out for the holidays. Morton should have checked with his members first before calling a meeting that had no chance of happening.
Posted by: john Location: j on Dec 30, 2008 at 09:35 AM
When it comes time to vote for state senate, remember that John Broden also supported raising the LOIT. He is in this mess with Luecke and Morton up to his elbows. DO NOT REELECTED THE TAX HIKER JOHN BRODEN!!!!!
Posted by: Citizen Location: South Bend on Dec 30, 2008 at 08:53 AM
What happens if the rest of us just decide not to show up to work??? We get fired
Posted by: Mike Location: South Bend on Dec 30, 2008 at 07:58 AM
A loss for Mayor Lackey is a win for the citizens of the city and county.
Posted by: judy on Dec 30, 2008 at 07:48 AM
the mayor lost 18 million dollars last year. in any privage company he would have been fired. despite that fact the residents allowed him to keep his job with a pension, health insurance, and tons of other perks. when he came out to triple the income tax on the families that are struggling he basically lied about the fact that there were 47 million dollars in the cities account. why is the media hardly pressing him and mr. morton for answers? wndu, this is a major story of deceipt and corruption. this should warrant a complete investigation. they abused their positions and yet we pay the mayor six figures to go on and he is unavailable for comment, come on, he and mr.morton have to go.
Posted by: Larry Location: South Bend on Dec 30, 2008 at 01:22 AM
WNDU needs to keep the public informed. Good job so far, but more info on the DLZ connection and the Blackthorn losses please. We the People need to keep our politicians honest and let them know we don't want or need more taxes. The city of SB needs to tighten their belts. Get rid of the unproductive administrative staff, cut the frills like the zoo, the greenhouse and the golf courses, does South Bend need to own 4 courses? Smaller Government! Provide us with protection - fire and police and with infrastructure. No frills just the basics, the private sector will handle the rest. Sorry, these are Republican concepts, but they do allow for less corruption and back end deals.
Posted by: Rose Location: Gilmor Park on Dec 29, 2008 at 11:23 PM
gosh, steve luecke has to be the best politician in america. when you put him up against people like rudy giuliani, frank o'bannon and mitch daniels, you can just see that steve luecke has a great record of accomplishment. never have the drug lords and illegal firearms dealers been so comfortable. never have the lazy been more content that their gov't job is safe. remember, steve says "south bend is a great, safe place to live"..... despite the fact we've had 4 shooting from december 24-27 when in every other city the criminals at least take a holiday break.
Posted by: DB Location: South Bend on Dec 29, 2008 at 08:27 PM
I agree with Ted. Taxation without Representation (Or...a sense of responsibility to the citizens of SB and SJC) I have to ask again, would the mayor and all his cronies be willing to take a pay cut to help out the rest of us. I admit I voted for him, but now I have to regret that move. Isn't it funny that he didn't say anything about raising taxes until after the election!!! Sorry folks. Next time around I'll try to take a closer look. (Under the microscope Luecke)
Posted by: Bookkeeper Location: Colfax Ave on Dec 29, 2008 at 08:20 PM
Guess Steve's stash of 47 million has finally tipped the scales.
Posted by: j Location: downtown on Dec 29, 2008 at 08:18 PM
Mark Peterson rocks!
Posted by: Jacob Location: Boulder Bay on Dec 29, 2008 at 07:42 PM
It won't be long until Mayor Dieter has all the stodabobs in South Bend pull the Democratic lever for him and all taxes except for the upper class Cooreman subdivisions will go up! I'll call it like I see it and I live in Boulder Bay! Dieter is a cheater!
Posted by: jerry on Dec 29, 2008 at 07:28 PM
finally, the people of this county have stood their ground and said NO MORE TAXES! where has the mayor gone? what happened to him? why is he not available to explain the 47 million dollars that he just forgot to tell us about when he tried to triple the income tax? the news media should be waiting at his office, he is a public servant and has an obligation to answer questions! why is mr. morton also not available for comment? it appears that their dirty game of creating another crisis so the public will agree to pay more is over! they should do the right thing and resign. they got caught and now have run away from the exposure. i hope the news media does not let up because 47 million dollars is a lot of money that they 'forgot' about and all crooks deserve punishment, why are we letting them get away???
Posted by: Public $afety on Dec 29, 2008 at 07:18 PM
Hear that the call to cancel the meeting was made by the Vice President for Governmental Relations at DLZ. Seems that the key MIA Council Member is Heath Weaver. Seems he went to Portugal to party. Guess that way he doesn't have to tango with the SBPD.
Posted by: Kim Location: Mishawaka on Dec 29, 2008 at 06:19 PM
This tax increase is just another South Bend mayor not doing his job and wanting everyone to pay for goverment excess, a police force that makes Barney Fife look good.
Posted by: Erik Location: South Bend on Dec 29, 2008 at 06:07 PM
Great Job Democrats!!! Keep up the good work!! HOPE IS HERE!!! I just HOPE the S.B. Mayor Pulls all of his police from the METRO UNITS!!! SBPD does 80% of the case load for the County so pull them back in. Take care of the City FIRST!!!
Posted by: John Location: South Bend on Dec 29, 2008 at 04:52 PM
Don't worry, Luecke the tax man will be knocking on the door again at the first possible chance. Now matter how many times we say "no new taxes", Luecke will always be there with his hand out.

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