Both friend and foe alike are talking about Mayor Greg Ballard’s proposed reduction in the County Option Income Tax from 1.65 to 1.62 percent; an $18 million savings for the taxpayers over the next three years.

Friends say it is a misguided public relations stunt.  Foes are taking credit for something they had nothing to do with nor fully understand.

What it is, is giving people back their hard-earned money.

If friends want to complain about something, I suggest they direct their attention towards the Marion County Courts and how they took their portion of the public safety/COIT increase and instead of creating an additional criminal court to alleviate jail overcrowding, the Courts instead created an additional family court. The Courts tackled the jail overcrowding issue through better case management and moving defendants through the chute quicker.

Before foes take credit for something, they should try to understand how the process works.  The city could not have adjusted the COIT rate understate law once it was set.  However, this is about the levy.  When the tax increase originally passed, the legislature had not yet picked up the pre-1977 pensions and child welfare levies.  Now they have.  With a smaller levy, there can be a smaller rate.  In addition, as reported this morning, the state gave counties the authority to reduce their tax rates by 0.03.

Now is a $12 savings per taxpayer a lot?  Not really, eventhough I argue the number is bigger because not every person in Marion County pays income taxes.  But that small number sends a big message.  The message that the Ballard administration is going to be fiscally responsible and return to the taxpayers (the people who pay the bills) as much of their money as possible.

And if my Democratic friends in 2011 are going to run on a platform of more taxes so there can be more spending all I can wonder is what will be Ballard’s big achievements during his second term?