CROWN POINT | Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority placed an order two weeks ago for a food and beverage tax.

They are still waiting at their table for something to come out of the kitchen.

The Lake County Council has yet to schedule a public hearing or vote on a motion by Councilman Thomas O'Donnell, D-Dyer, to enact a 1 percent tax on food and beverage sales and commit the $6 million it could generate to create a countywide public bus system.

Council members said they are in no hurry, despite a warning that many components of existing public bus transportation in the county are teetering on the brink of extinction with Hammond Transit and the Northwest Indiana Community Action Corp. curtailing service by month's end.

Part of the problem is garnering enough votes to pass such a measure and then having enough council votes to override a veto by county commissioners.

"I don't think we're engaged in feet dragging," O'Donnell said Wednesday. "There is still a lot of talking and learning, and we aren't ready to take it to a vote. There has to be more consensus."

Three of the seven-member council, including O'Donnell, support the tax to bail out public transit, but four votes are needed for its passage and five to override a promised veto by the Lake County Board of Commissioners.

Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, said Wednesday she recently told Council President Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, she is in no hurry.

"The RBA really hasn't shown a plan of how they are going to be universal or how people would get from point to point in a timely manner," Cid said. "I haven't gotten an answer about whether they considered raising fares."

Blanchard said he won't push for an expedited vote while so many members remain unready. Blanchard, who voted against a similar tax in 2005 and a local income tax in 2007, said he is trying to keep an open mind.

"I'd like to give people a chance," Blanchard said. "I feel RBA Chairman Dennis Rittenmeyer has put a lot of time and effort into this."