CROWN POINT | The Lake County Council raised the rent Monday on landlords needing government assistance to evict deadbeat tenants.

Council members voted 5-1 to approve on second and final reading a new ordinance creating a $100 fee property owners must pay the county to get a court eviction order.

The new fee is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually and will be used to supplement the sheriff's budget in the wake of declining property tax revenues.

The fee sparked a vigorous debate among council members and Benjamin Coleman, of Gary, who said he is a longtime landlord. He said small landlords cannot afford the fee on top of the $89 already charged for evictions.

"This fee is a golden trough, and it may save you money," Coleman said. "But it will cost the tenants. You will have a lot of homeless people and mom and pop landlords without a lot of cash flow. You will have abandoned properties."

Council President Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, who cast the lone vote against the fee, said it is unfair to charge all landlords to have police officers stand by during evictions to ensure public safety when such a service is rarely needed. "Last month, we had 31 evictions in East Chicago, and only three were forced evictions."

Councilman Jerome Prince, D-Gary, said Coleman failed to mention that landlords will reap a windfall profit from property tax cuts going into effect.