Montgomery County municipalities have been mandated by state statute to form a Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce in every Indiana county.
Montgomery County Council President David Hunt announced the first local MUST meeting will convene at 1 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Montgomery County Government Center, 1580 Constitution Row, Crawfordsville.
The purpose of MUST is to address the expected lower Local Income Tax distributions to all government entities. State legislators have made changes to Indiana’s LIT laws and have reached out to municipalities and counties to help decide how the funds will be shared as it appears there will be less tax revenue available to each municipality.
The state is mandating these taskforces as a result of changes to Indiana’s income tax rules, including maximum rate limits. The goal is to have cities and towns agree on tax sharing.
Final local tax agreements must be submitted to the state later this year.
The statute mandates MUST will consist of each municipal fiscal officer as well as one representative from the county council. County ouncilman Mike Warren has volunteered to be the council’s representative.
Crawfordsville will be represented by City Clerk Karyn Douglas and each town will be represented by its town clerk.
County Auditor Mindy Byers, who is the county’s chief financial officer, has sent each municipality a list of key financial and operational information that needs to be provided to her office by Aug. 14.
“We have been sending the city and each town the information about MUST,” Byers said. “We are trying to educate the elected officials. People need to realize that there will be less money available for townships, fire territories, libraries, law enforcement and public safety units. Each unit should be interested in what MUST will be deciding. This first meeting will be used to share information and get organized for future meetings.”
The Association of Indiana Counties, Accelerated Indiana Municipalities and the law firm of Baker Tilly have already conducted a statewide zoom meeting online to educate elected officials. More than 500 officials watched the webcast. The joint effort to educate the municipality officials will continue in numerous ways.
The new distribution formula is scheduled to be in place by 2029.
The meeting will be open to the public and live streamed on the county’s YouTube channel.
