Published: October 23, 2008 09:00 pm         

TRIBUNE-STAR EDITOIAL: Assessor question deserves time, dialogue

Because a rare referendum item is listed at the very bottom of the second side of Vigo County ballots, we feel a responsibility to remind voters of its existence and to offer our perspective on the issue.

Local Public Question No. 1 reads: “Should the assessing duties of the elected township assessor in the township be transferred to the county assessor?”

Government policy wonks likely know the origin of this question lies in the bipartisan Kernan-Shepard Commission, which recommended a host of sweeping changes to streamline Indiana government. Earlier this year, the state legislature chose to implement some of those changes. One of them was to abolish elected assessor positions in 965 of Indiana’s smaller townships and transfer the duties to county assessors.

That left 43 large township assessors whose fate, the legislators decided, voters should determine. Harrison, with more than 25,000 parcels is among the 43.

As we previously have said, we agree with much more of Kernan-Shepard than we don’t. Hoosiers operate with more layers of bureaucracy than most states our size and with more townships than all but eight other U.S. states.

That said, we aren’t especially comfortable urging voters to embrace Public Question No. 1 on Nov. 4. The issue is more complex than it appears, and the conservative approach seems to dictate that we all need more information to make such an important decision.

Combining all tax assessor duties into one county office may well be the best route — some day. But scrapping a system that seems to be working pretty well right now — and de-authorizing the experienced personnel who make up that system — ought to be done for reasons more compelling than “it’ll be streamlined.”

Bigger isn’t always better. Harrison Township’s current set-up allows for one-on-one access to 10 full-time assessors, officially certified through state training, who know the neighborhoods and various properties in their domain. If a homeowner has a beef, there are effective appeals processes.

While passage of Public Question No. 1 means Harrison’s $400,000 annual assessor’s budget would be rolled into Vigo County’s budget, nothing guarantees that the money would go for property and land assessment or for additional people to do parcel-by-parcel field work that the township assessors currently do.

Given the bleak economic outlook, it isn’t hard to imagine the Vigo assessor’s office being told what many middle managers in public and private sectors are told every day now: Sorry, you’ll have to do more with less.

Add to that the admission by supporters of consolidation that their new plan likely won’t save taxpayers much or any money, and the notion of instant streamlining loses some of its allure.

Again, we aren’t encouraging voters to close the door forever on state government reorganization, including township assessors. But the Kernan-Shepard Commission report ran nearly 1,000 pages. Every aspect of it deserves time, consideration and measured, pro-and-con dialogue by citizens and their elected representatives.

We all need to be better educated about the duties of local and state offices so we can recognize genuine administrative redundancies and eliminate them. A ballot measure that has flown mostly under the radar during an exciting national election season does not seem the wisest place to start.

Whatever your own thoughts on Public Question No. 1, please remember one thing: It’s at the far end of the Vigo ballot, after all 67 candidates and the five yea or nay questions on retaining justices for the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Indiana Tax Court.