By VICKI URBANIK

Shortly after he regained his seat on the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District Tuesday, North Porter County Commissioner John Evans said a referendum should be placed on this year’s ballot asking voters how they feel about the $1 billion South Shore extension.

Evans said the plan to extend the South Shore has two distinct sides. On the one hand, he said, funding the extension could represent a “great tax burden” on residents. On the other hand, he said the extension would return considerable new revenue to Northwest Indiana.

This region needs to be mindful of its environment, Evans said, and if Northwest Indiana cannot find a way to get people to the high paying jobs in Chicago, then it will have to provide the jobs here by building more factories and the like.

“Both sides need to be examined very, very well,” he said.

Evans said he believes the South Shore extension is a significant issue that should be put to the voters, though he added that the exact wording of a referendum question would have to be carefully considered.

“I think it’s something that should be asked” of the voters, he said.

His colleague, Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper agreed, noting that at a previous regional meeting, he earlier suggested a referendum on the South Shore extension. Harper has been vocal against a new regional tax to fund the South Shore extension, maintaining that the ridership from Porter County would be relatively low and wouldn’t justify the high cost of the extension.

“At the very least, the taxpayers should have the right to vote on it,” Harper said.

Evans said he believes the Porter County Commissioners have the authority to seek a referendum question on the ballot. County Attorney Gwenn Rinkenberger said she is not aware of anything in state law that would prohibit such a referendum. Whether the referendum, if one actually takes place, would be binding or not remains to be seen.

Northwest Indiana’s legislative delegation expects to introduce a bill in the current session of the Indiana General Assembly seeking a funding source for the South Shore extension. The plan calls for extending the line, known as “West Lake,” in two ways: One line would run through central Lake County and into Valparaiso, and the other would extend south on the west side of Lake County to Lowell.

The total project is set to cost $1 billion, half of which is expected to come from federal funds. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority expects to earmark $150 million, leaving $350 million still unfunded.

Various local taxes have been mentioned as a possible funding source, including a wheel tax and a gas tax increase.

Posted 1/9/2008