By VICKI URBANIK

An amendment to the South Shore expansion bill that would practically force Lake and Porter counties and three north-Lake County cities to stay in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority is drawing harsh criticism from both sides of the county line.

This morning, Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and State Senator Earline Rogers held a press conference in Indianpolis at which they opposed the amendment that was added to H.B. 1220. The bill, which has passed the House, would capture about $30 million a year of state sales tax in Lake and Porter counties toward the bond payments for the capital costs of the South Shore extension to Lowell and to Valparaiso.

The amendment would not allow the RDA member agencies -- the county governments in Porter and Lake counties and the cities of Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago -- to leave the RDA for 10 years and, if they were to leave, to keep paying toward RDA bonded projects.

Though the amendment was intended to safeguard the funding for the RDA when the South Shore bonds are issued, officials from both sides of the county line are describing the language as holding the RDA members “hostage.”

“I have asked Senator Rogers to amend the legislation because it holds our city hostage to plans that we may not agree,” Clay said in a press release issued after today’s press conference. “This creates the same problem we are facing on a national level, over-committing to a situation without a clear exit strategy.”

In Porter County, Clay’s sentiment was echoed by two Porter County Council members.

“I feel like we got bamboozled,” said county council member Dan Whitten, D-at large.

Whitten is the only current Porter County Council member who voted against raising the county’s income tax in order for Porter County to join the RDA in 2005.

Whitten said Porter County decided to join the RDA based on a “lot of vague promises.” Now that it’s clear that the RDA doesn’t have the funding to carry out all those development projects that were the premise of forming the RDA, the RDA members are being forced to keep paying to stay in the RDA.

“I am outraged,” he said.

Porter County Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, also opposes the amendment.

“I still agree with the concept of the RDA. But I don’t appreciate being held hostage by the state legislators,” he said.

The RDA is being funded in part by $3.5 million in annual payments made by the two county governments and the three north Lake County cities.

Porter County pays its share from its income tax, while the Lake County funds come from casino revenues.

The prospect that at least one of the RDA member agencies may want to withdraw was raised in the press release issued this morning.

“For those cities that don’t want to commit to another ten years in the RDA, we need to provide an opportunity to withdraw now,” Rogers said.. “Gary should not be held to a commitment without even an option of leaving the regional board.”

Rogers said because of her “serious concerns” with the language in H.B. 1220, she intends to try to amend the bill now that it’s in the Senate.

“This is really changing the rules in the middle of the game,” Rogers said.

“When we approved the Northwest Regional Development Authority in 2005 it was under the auspice of different goals. Cities need to have the option of participating or not depending on where the board is going with their plans.”

Rogers noted that the amendments to H.B. 1220 would require the member cities and counties to stay in the RDA for 10 years.

They would be allowed to leave but only upon approval of the RDA board. And if they did leave, they would be liable for “unpaid transfers” due before the withdrawal as well as bond obligations.

Posted 2/5/2008