Published: January 05, 2008 09:44 pm            

Tribune-Star editorial: Efforts to reform must start with the people

Part 2 of a series

This is the second in a series of three editorials concerning Indiana’s need to reform its property tax and local government system. The series is a collaboration of Indiana newspapers owned by CNHI, a national newspaper ownership group. The editorial series was created by the Tribune-Star, Kokomo Tribune and Anderson Herald Bulletin. Today’s editorial is by the Kokomo Tribune.

The Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy — a committee of state lawmakers investigating property tax reform — met several times earlier this year. And it heard such complaints as:

• New property assessment rules are too complicated and being interpreted differently by assessors.

• Too many assessors need training.

• The state Department of Local Government Finance hasn’t been doing its job in overseeing the more than 2,400 taxing units across the state.

Howard County Assessor Jamie Shepherd and Center Township Assessor Sheila Pullen of Howard say gargantuan tax breaks given Indiana businesses for personal property and inventory are mostly to blame for the spike in homeowners’ tax bills across the state.

It’s the same argument they made to state legislators and staff members of Gov. Mitch Daniels back in April. And Pullen has the data to back it up.

In August, Pullen was reviewing the property assessments of Kokomo’s Chrysler Corp., Delphi Corp., and Haynes International. She found tax breaks, approved by the Indiana General Assembly, slashed the combined assessed value of the three companies by $403 million in 2007 alone.

Haynes, with a tax value of $59.8 million, had its value trimmed to just $5.7 million, after abatements and investment credits were applied and inventory was removed.

Howard County homeowners’ taxes jumped 20 percent to 50 percent in 2007. In at least nine Hoosier counties, property taxes increased an average 35 percent, the state Office of Management and Budget said in July.

Yet, the governor and others in his administration have pointed to city, county and school spending as the real culprit for the increase in property taxes. And, yes, they have data to back their claims as well.

Local spending climbed an average 65.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, according to the DLGF. That’s 40.4 percent above the rate of inflation for that time period.

The fact is this: Local spending, new tax credits and inequitable assessments across the state all factor into the property tax equation. The only path to true tax reform will be a statewide effort to make local government more efficient, and Indiana residents will have to lead the charge.

In other words, taking a hard look at the 27 recommendations of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform.

Change is hard, particularly in Indiana. Many Hoosiers continue to complain about the statewide adoption of daylight-saving time and the leasing of the Indiana Toll Road.

Those two issues would pale in comparison to the controversy following forced consolidation of school systems of fewer than 2,000 students, as proposed by the commission. But the discussion, though emotional, must take place.

Hoosiers must demand it, or continue struggling to pay the taxes on their property.

        

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