The Allen County Council will not vote on the local income tax, or LIT, rate for the new jail Thursday morning. In an email, county officials say the council “was originally going to consider the LIT Ordinance” but decided Wednesday to delay it.
This comes a week after a federal judge urged action from the Allen County Council toward funding the plan, saying if nothing gets done by the end of the month, the court would have to take action and “the people will not like the answer.”
This is the second month in a row the body has decided not to vote on funding the new jail. ACLU legal director Ken Falk said after the most recent satus hearing that if the council does not fund the project or find a reasonable alternative by the end of October, he'd likely file to add the Allen County Council to the ACLU's federal lawsuit against the county, which would impose more legal fees on the county government.
The federal judge in the case, US District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty did not specify what his "answer" would be if the council does not take action before Nov. 1.
County Council President Tom Harris has said that the council could either vote on it at the scheduled meeting Thursday or hold off and vote at a special meeting later.
Leichty wants a status report by Nov. 1. Harris was not available for comment.
