A glitch in state law will allow the Marion County township assessors who saw their jobs eliminated by voters this past election to continue drawing a salary for the two years of their 4-year terms remaining; however, the City-County Council has introduced a proposed ordinance to reduce their pay from a current range of $60,000-$70,000 to a range of $20,000-$27,000. The salary reduction will save taxpayers $400,000 annually over the next two years reports the Star's Brendan O'Shaughnessy.
Surprisingly, O'Shaughnessy's report indicates that there may be some resistance from council Democrats to the proposed reduction in the county option income tax by Mayor Greg Ballard. "Joanne Sanders, the Democratic minority leader, said she is not yet convinced the state law is clear that the money couldn't eventually be used for another purpose, such as hiring police or filling potholes," O'Shaughnessy writes. Hmmm. Wasn't it the council Democrats earlier this year who were proposing a sunset of the 65% county option income tax increase they approved last year when they were in control of the council?
1 comment:
Gary,
I seem to recall running across a law that prevents the reduction of an elected officials salary during the middle of their term. While it might make sense to do this, I'm not sure it's legal.
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