Wagoner Editor's note: The following letter was written by Camden Town Council President Pete Wagoner to members of the Carroll County Council. The council will be deciding at its July 28 meeting whether or not to increase the county's Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).

"At a time when county government is trying to cope with state mandated property tax reforms, an economic downturn, declining population, reduced revenues and necessary budget reductions it is understandable any request to increase expenditures/taxes deserves careful consideration by the council. This is also true for the Town of Camden and every other local government entity in the county. We feel your pain and share your concerns! However, we have determined there are very good reasons to adopt the proposed EDIT rate increase (.10% to .25%), and "pooling" additional revenue generated to fund larger projects as prioritized on the Economic Development Plan prepared by the Carroll County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) and the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce (dated 4/30/2008).

At your recent county council meeting no action was taken regarding this proposal and concerns were voiced about the Economic Development Plan (specifically, the high-priority given to Item #2, "To help fund & promote the extension of SR75 from HHC (Hoosier Heartland Highway) to Camden."

Some members stated that highest priority should be assigned to shovel-ready business sites. Prior to re-considering an increase in the EDIT rate at your next meeting, and endorsing the Economic Development Plan as presented by CCEDC, I wish to share a few thoughts on this very important subject.

Let's first step back and take a look at the county's economy from a historical perspective. The county's population was less than 2,000 in the early 1830s, but had grown to over 20,000 (its peak) by 1890, when our economy was entirely agriculture. About this time ag mechanization and consolidation began to reduce the number of farm families/jobs and by the World War II era population had shrunk to about 15,000. After WWII there was a substantial growth in locally operated manufacturing firms, plus many workers began commuting to good-paying jobs being created in surrounding counties.

The county had evolved to having a three-legged economy: agriculture, in-county manufacturing, and workers commuting to jobs outside the county. During the last-half of 20th Century this economic model generated modest population growth even though the number of farm-related jobs continued to decline. By the year 2000, county population matched its 1890 peak of slightly over 20,000.

However, since 1991, when Indiana Packers located here, the county has not made any significant economic development investments. Funding for CCEDC has been barebones compared to other counties and we have no shovel ready business sites available. Outside economic development consultants tell us the county is "not even in the ballgame" when trying to compete for new business developments that create good jobs.

Recent economic trends have been undermining the county's economy/future. Agriculture continues to consolidate. Most locally operated manufacturing firms have closed their doors, and many jobs outside the county have been lost, had wages reduced or become an uneconomical option due to skyrocketing energy costs. The three-legged economic model that served our county reasonably well for half a century has completely lost one leg and its second leg is shrinking. These unfavorable trends have caused a slow, but steady decline in population, property valuations and tax revenues. This overall deterioration of our economic base is the underlying cause of the county's current financial problems. Some serious bookkeeping errors in the courthouse have only made a bad situation worse.

Today, over 50% of the county's workforce still commutes to jobs outside the county.

The trend nationwide is for younger workers/families to relocate closer to where they work. We see this happening here every day, and energy prices are only going to continue moving upward. Longer-distance commuting is fading away and that's over 50% of our workforce!

There has been a long-held misconception that our county's economy is "only agriculture" which has kept us from diversifying our economy. We are blessed having a very strong agricultural segment, yet ag represents only 30% of our total property tax valuation, and the dollar amount has not grown significantly the past 10-years. The trend toward ever-larger ag operations, with fewer farm-related jobs, will continue in the years ahead.

Over the past 12-months every community in Carroll County lost population, and in June our county had the highest rate of unemployment for any county in north-central Indiana. Conversely, Tippecanoe County created over 2,000 new jobs over the past year and communities there all grew in population. The choice we all must face in Carroll County is quite clear!

Do we wish to maintain/grow our population and property tax base, or are we willing to face the unpleasant consequences of doing nothing? If we choose to do nothing the county could easily lose half its current population over the next 10-20 years! This would result in declining public revenues, fewer public services, declining home values, more local businesses closing, school facilities being abandoned, churches closing their doors, etc. None of our communities is going to grow in the future, including Delphi, unless we take bold actions that can start creating more good jobs in the county. We are thankful for our strong agricultural base, but ag operations alone will not create the numbers of new jobs needed to sustain or grow our population in the years ahead. To reverse recent, negative economic trends and create a promising future for the county requires us to focus limited resources on economic development projects having real potential to some day create significant numbers of new, decentpaying jobs.

Therefore, the Town of Camden supports the proposed EDIT rate increase, and "pooling" the additional revenue generated to fund larger projects as prioritized on the Economic Development Plan. This plan resulted from input received from many sources, and has previously been reviewed favorably by all municipalities, the Commissioners, and at a recent Focus on the Future Forum. There is broadbased support for this Economic Development Plan, as presented, which assigns a high-priority to a SR75 Extension Project.

We also support other shovel ready sites targeted by CCEDC, but the SR75 Extension Project warrants the priority reflected in the Economic Development Plan because:

1. The SR75 Extension Project would include an excellent shovel ready industrial/business site near the SR75/HHC interchange. In fact, this site may have the best potential for industrial development of any location along the HHC in Carroll County since it would offer ready access to HHC and SR75, gas and electric utilities, water/wastewater (from Camden), ample flat land and direct access to the N&W Railroad. Far higher energy costs have made rail access a must-have for many types of industry when they are planning new facilities.

2. This will be a county/state project, not a "Camden project," which will benefit all local governmental entities and every taxpayer living in Carroll County since it has the potential for creating a significant number of decent paying jobs!

3. Momentum is building for this highway project and it has gained broad support, including: County Commissioners, CCEDC, Town of Flora, Town of Camden, Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor Coalition and INDOT planners/leaders.

4. Although funds for a SR75 Extension Project were not included in HHC funding, INDOT is committing significant resources to help move this project along in-sync with the design and construction of the HHC through Carroll County.

5. To help create a shovel ready site the Town of Camden is prepared to pursue an extension of its municipal water and wastewater services to this location.

6. The SR75 corridor (10 miles either side) contains a significant portion of the corn, soybean and pork production in Indiana. There will be major bio-fuel plants located in Frankfort and Clymers, a large Frito- Lay plant serves markets northeast from Frankfort and several automotive suppliers are also located there, while in Carroll County two large-scale dairies and a new shovel ready site south of Flora are currently being planned near SR75. All of these operations would benefit from gaining direct access to the HHC.

7. Connecting SR75 to the HHC would significantly enhance the status INDOT assigns to this highway and upgrades to its route between Frankfort and the HHC would likely be planned in the years ahead which would further benefit Carroll County.

8. Heavy-truck traffic originating from these sources is already starting to pass through Carroll County utilizing geo-positioned routes and existing, unimproved county roads; which is damaging these roads and creating very unsafe driving conditions for some county residents. There are clearly sound economic and safety reasons to extend/improve SR75 and connect it to the HHC.

We must recognize that economic development is a longterm process and near-term results may not be observable. Seeds we plant today could easily take 10-years to bear fruit. The industrial activity now flourishing along SR28 west of Frankfort resulted from economic development projects that were initiated in Clinton County over 20 years ago.

Carroll County is seriously behind the curve in creating new jobs, but the HHC project offers a once in a generation opportunity for our county to initiate some parallel economic development projects that could, in time, be of significant benefit to our economy. This is not a time for communities to compete with one another, because an economic development project that creates a significant number of new jobs, wherever it may be located in the county, will benefit all communities and every county taxpayer.

The proposed EDIT increase and Economic Development Plan, including the SR75 Extension Project with a shovel ready industrial/business site, warrant your approval and support."