Times Staff Report

LOWELL | If a Lake County income tax becomes a reality, state Rep. Don Lehe, R-Brookston, wants to be certain the benefits of that tax will be felt by those paying it.

"What I'm drafting is requiring that the money return to the area from which it came," Lehe said Friday. "If it's to be property tax relief, it should be relief to the area it was taken from."

Lehe said he decided to generate the legislation because he does not want to see taxpayers penalized with "improper distribution."

The question of whether there will be a local income tax is not his to make, Lehe said. "That's totally up to the county," he said, but added state pressure makes it likely.