Lake County Indiana Income Tax Passes

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In a stunning reversal, commissioners in Lake County, Ind., failed to veto a planned 1.5 percent income tax for county residents.

The tax will now go into effect on Oct. 1 of this year.

All along, the two members of the Lake County Board of Commissioners had indicated that they would veto the tax narrowly approved earlier this week by the Lake County Council.

On Friday, the board members refused to put the tax veto to a vote, by remaining silent as Commissioner Gerry Scheub made repeated motions for action. Commissioners Mike Repay and Roosevelt Allen refused to second the motion.

As a result, the request for a veto vote died.

The plan creates a 1.5 percent tax on the personal income of all county residents and out-of-state residents working in the county.

Repay had said in the past that he would not vote for the tax. Scheub was also opposed to the tax, effectively giving the board the two votes needed for a veto. Allen supported the tax to help erase budget shortfalls created by a decline in property tax revenue.

Repay told the Northwest Indiana Times after the meeting, "This was not a decision I made easily or overnight. But, I feel I was elected for more than one issue."