Put the money where your tax is

For those here in NW Indiana, if you aren't following the debates and analysis on Blue County - Red State, you're missing some great conversation. I don't agree with Buzz on everything, but he has a knack for great analysis.

This week he endeavored to analyze property tax rates, balanced against local option income taxes, to determine if Lake County is actually better off without an income tax. He also charted the tax rates for all communities in Lake County, which is a surprising chart to see.

I won't agree totally that COIT is bad, I actually personally think that COIT is the way to bring down overall property tax rates ... as long as elected officials have the will power to stop themselves from spending the new money first. I commented on the site something like the following, and I'm curious your thoughts?

• Bus fares should match the cost of operating the buses, then only those who wanted to ride the bus instead of walking, riding a bike, or driving their car would use the bus.
  
• Train fares on the Southshore should match the cost of operating the trains. Again, let the money track with the service, and don't ask "all" taxpayers to shoulder the deficits. I can fully understand using federal or state dollars to build a new line ... but not for operations.
• Sewer rates should match the true cost of operating the sewer system, including maintenance, expansion, and fixing combined sewer overflows. Yes, I realize this may cause large jumps in sewer rates, but then they would be real and they would be matched to the actual users.
  
• It is my opinion that Gary Airport should be privatized, not sure how, not even sure the legality, but surely it has a better chance if private.

Why the list? Because I'm considering that a lot of communities are going to start raising fees in response to the property tax caps. I can be a naive conservative and scream about all such fees, but frankly if they match a service provided then the fees should be raised to the level needed to provide the service. No, I don't want to see $10 copy charges at the county building ... but you'll never see that happen if all public documents can be accessed online anyway.

Now, lastly to Buzz's beef with the COIT in Lake County. I can see the COIT being a great tool if the entire amount raised has to be used to reduce the levy for property taxes. Then everyone benefits.