This conversation was sparked by Dave Bangert’s August 11th, 2026 piece, Wabash Township Fire request for share of local income tax on the ropes, again.
In it, he did not mention if the LIT rate increase, that was part of the presentation Wabash Township made to West Lafayette’s City Council, was included in the Township’s presentation to the County Council.
This rate increase was critical to the success of the ask because it moved the question from, “Can we have some of your existing funds?” to “Can we increase the taxes by a small amount to secure some of our own funds?”
And since it wasn’t included in the ask, the arguments against it were predictable and expected.
Zachary Baiel, August 12th
Thanks, Dave. I need to read through everything proposed, but at the West Lafayette City Council presentation, Wabash Township also was open to increasing the Public Safety Local Option Income Tax to cover their costs.
Was this discussed at the County Council meeting? It seems like it wasn’t with your statement: “If approved, Wabash Township’s $750,000 share would come off the top and cut into what the county, the two cities and towns would typically receive.”
I am curious what conversations the County had with the Townships to ensure their needs were being met.
Meanwhile, the County doesn’t know if they want to renovate the jail or build a juvenile detention center. But they raised the rate.
Dave Bangert, August 12th
They did not discuss an increase in the public safety local income tax.
Baiel, August 12th
Thanks, Dave. I appreciate the follow up.
Now I am curious as to why this was not discussed at the County meeting when it was a key part of the presentation at West Lafayette.
Angel Valentín, Wabash Township Trustee, August 12th
Hey, it was mentioned during the County Council presentation last month, but not yesterday, as we only had the ability to issue public comment yesterday.
Baiel, September 8th
Thanks, Angel. Why was the percentage increase not mentioned in the comments? I thought that was the way to overcome their objections of using already spoken for funds.
No word back. Granted, it was a month since I replied to Angel, but the question remains. Why wasn’t it included in the ask?
A cousin of the poison pill strategy? Very curious indeed.
