The proposed insurance premium tax being initiated by the Crittenden County Fiscal Court is drawing a great deal of fire from the community.
As written and proposed, the plan would levy a 4-percent new tax on county residents who pay premiums on homes, cars, health and life insurance.
What's unclear is whether magistrates will maintain the current framework when the measure comes to a final vote during its Feb. 19 regular meeting. Chances are that county officials will do one or two things before eventually passing the ordinance creating the new tax.
1. Look for magistrates to retool the ordinance in order to exclude health and life insurance. Most insurance companies in the area say it's virtually impossible to tax those types of policies, not to mention highly unpopular.
2. There is a high probability that county officials will lower the rate from 4 percent to either 3 or 2 percent before final passage of the plan. That's based on some of the feedback we're hearing from those officials.
Opposition to the tax is going to be heavy. Already, the lead is thicker at the courthouse than it was at Antitiem. Farmers and business folk in the county are the most vocal. Some say their insurance premiums will go up thousands of the dollars if the tax is passed as proposed. While they understand the need to raise additional funds to maintain local government, their up in arms about such a drastic increase.
County leaders maintain that without a big influx of cash, the 2008-09 budget cannot be balanced. Rising costs in labor, retirement, fuel and everything else will create a major shortfall, says Judge-Executive Fred Brown. Slashing contributions to the park, fire departments and civic groups would not come close to solving the problem, officials say.
Stay tuned, this could be the most controversial issue in some time. The Crittenden Press will provide coverage leading up to the Feb. 19 meeting and we will be there to see how the final vote goes.
