CROWN POINT | Lake County Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, has studied the latest report showing how a county income tax would affect residents, but he wants more.

"You have got to break it down further -- to each individual taxpayer or get some kind of formula so they can break it down for themselves," Blanchard said.

The Lake County Council released a study Monday by private firm Crowe Chizek that sets out several scenarios of how much city, town and township residents would pay in income taxes. The study also shows what portion of that money would be returned back to the taxpayers' home communities.

The study indicates millions of dollars in income taxes could flow from the pockets of high-income suburban residents to low-income areas, particularly East Chicago and Gary government units.

Blanchard said Crowe Chizek's estimates of the wealth distribution vary widely depending on the distribution formula the council could use because there is still a big unknown -- this year's property tax rates.

Property tax rates, which normally are certified in the spring, may not come out until later this month because the state is involved in a new reassessment system that state and local assessors are still struggling to make work.