CROWN POINT | State Rep. Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point, has just finished one his most contentious years in the Indiana General Assembly.

Political insiders -- even some members of Kuzman's party -- are upset at the role he played in helping craft House Bill 1478.

The property tax reform bill package contains a bitter option for Lake County -- pass an unpopular local 1 percent income tax or face a state-mandated freeze on local government spending from which only schools would be exempt.

Insiders complained downstate Republicans appear to have seduced Kuzman into fomenting discontent with local Democratic officials.

Kuzman is vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and was on the conference committee that crafted the legislation.

Some don't blame Kuzman for the potential tax crisis.

County Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, said the bill, which he insists "is not property tax relief," was passed by a majority of state legislators and "they did what they thought they had to do."

But County Commissioner Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, said, "I don't really know Kuzman well as an individual. You can't blame a person for bettering himself. But left behind in his wake is this terrible tax package."

State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, the only local lawmaker to vote against the measure, has publicly wondered why lawmakers from the region could not have taken a stronger stand against the local income tax.

"For northern Lake County, (a local income tax is) particularly a problem. I guess I thought we would have fared a lot better as a county than we did in the past," Rogers said last month.

Kuzman said he makes no apologies.

"The No. 1 complaint I get is about property taxes," Kuzman said in response to his critics. "Here is a way, a new way (to alleviate that problem)."

The 1 percent tax would be used to offset property tax increases resulting from reassessment of real estate and a reduction in business taxes.

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, a chief proponent of the forced income tax, advised Kuzman on the legislation.

"I know this is very hard on Bob," Kenley said. "The tax structure up there is not in tune with the times in terms of spreading the load on an equitable basis. I think Bob Kuzman deserves nothing but praise for trying to solve a problem. If you want to blame someone, blame me. I don't live there."

Times staff writer Pat Guinane contributed to this report.