WARSAW — The proposed amendment to the wheel tax was turned down in the Kosciusko County Council meeting on Thursday, June 9. The amendment would have lowered the cost of registering trailers in the county from $40 to $15 or $25 depending on the weight of the trailer. More details on the proposed amendment can be found here.

“This is not a fair tax. I don’t like it. I don’t want to pay it … but if we want what we’ve got, we have to pay it,” said Council President, Robert Sanders.

Joe Fussle, a councilman, argued the opposing side, saying that government spending has a tendency to get out of control. “If we pursued this with gazelle intensity, we’d be able to find the money [without having to tax for it],” Fussle said.

“There is no money,” Sanders later said. A concerned citizen came forward and commented that compared to other county council’s, Kosciusko’s runs on very little money. “We’re very frugal here, in Kosciusko County,” they said.

After many minutes of discussion a vote was called and the amendment was voted down with a 2-3 vote in support.

A presentation was also made by Lyn Crighton from the Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation. The Foundation is one of a few groups in the area that helps take steps to keep the rivers and lakes clean of pollution and debris.

“What we do is try and stop pollution at its source,” Crighton said. They do this by working with local farmers and helping them to improve their drainage systems, so that runoff isn’t laced with pesticides and fertilizers.

“One pound of phosphorus can grow up to 10,000 pounds of weeds and algae,” Crighton said while presenting to the council.

Mayor Joe Thallemer also made a presentation to the council concerning the Stellar Communities application. Stellar Communities is a program which offers funds to communities who can demonstrate that they have a plan for how to improve themselves. Thallemer told the council that Warsaw has been named a finalist for this year’s competition.

“The Stellar Communities project was created to reward communities with vision,” Thallemer said.

The funds would be used to improve and create projects along Market Street, including:

• The addition of a roundabout at the intersection of Argonne Road and Winona Avenue
• A safe bicycle lane through downtown
• neighborhood beautification
• Little Crow Lofts
• Senior living opportunities

In Other Business:

• The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department was reimbursed $256 for the extradition of an inmate.
• New scuba equipment was purchased for the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team, and the old Scuba Gear was sold to the city of Monticello for $3,000.
• Michelle Pucket, county auditor, requested a petty cash fund of $30 be made available to the Clerk’s Office in order to pay postage fees. The request was approved.