Sec. 8.5. (a) This section applies to Fountain County.

     (b) The county council may, by ordinance, determine that additional local income tax revenue is needed in the county to do the following:

(1) Finance, construct, acquire, improve, renovate, and equip the county jail and related buildings and parking facilities, including costs related to the demolition of existing buildings, the acquisition of land, and any other reasonably related costs.

(2) Repay bonds issued or leases entered into for the purposes described in subdivision (1).

     (c) If the county council makes the determination set forth in subsection (b), the county council may adopt an ordinance to impose a local income tax rate of not more than fifty-five hundredths percent (0.55%). However, the tax rate may not be greater than the rate necessary to pay for the purposes described in subsection (b).

     (d) The tax rate may be imposed only until the later of the following dates:

(1) The date on which the financing, construction, acquisition, improvement, renovation, and equipping of the facilities as described in subsection (b) are completed.

(2) The date on which the last of any bonds issued (including refunding bonds) or leases entered into to finance the construction, acquisition, improvement, renovation, and equipping of the facilities described in subsection (b) are fully paid.

     (e) The term of a bond issued (including any refunding bond) or a lease entered into under subsection (b) may not exceed twenty-five (25) years.

     (f) The county treasurer shall establish a county jail revenue fund to be used only for the purposes described in this section. Local income tax revenues derived from the tax rate imposed under this section shall be deposited in the county jail revenue fund.

     (g) Local income tax revenues derived from the tax rate imposed under this section:

(1) may be used only for the purposes described in this section;

(2) may not be considered by the department of local government finance in determining the county’s maximum permissible property tax levy limit under IC 6-1.1-18.5; and

(3) may be pledged to the repayment of bonds issued or leases entered into for the purposes described in subsection (b).

     (h) Fountain County possesses unique governmental and economic development challenges and opportunities related to:

(1) the current county jail; and

(2) a limited industrial and commercial assessed valuation in the county.

The use of local income tax revenues as provided in this section is necessary for the county to provide adequate jail capacity in the county and to maintain low property tax rates essential to economic development. The use of local income tax revenues as provided in this section to pay any bonds issued or leases entered into to finance the construction, acquisition, improvement, renovation, and equipping of the facilities described in subsection (b), rather than the use of property taxes, promotes those purposes.

     (i) Money accumulated from the local income tax rate imposed under this section after the termination of the tax under this section shall be transferred to the county rainy day fund under IC 36-1-8-5.1.

As added by P.L.255-2017, SEC.25.