Sometimes we find ourselves in situations when we've got to make hard choices - do the right thing or capitulate for strategic reasons. The Indiana General Assembly is in that position now with both property taxes AND the local government reform measures released Tuesday by the Commission on Local Government Reform. What a perfect storm for real, lasting change.
Once again, mega kudos to the Governor for his leadership in getting long-needed recommendations to the public on a topic which affects them greatly:
- create a county chief executive
- create a single, unified county government structure
- eliminate township trustees (not their duties)
- establish a single, countywide public safety system
- consolidate schools
- move school board elections to November
These are but a few of the twenty-seven recommendations released yesterday. The thing is, we can't really say that they are new and groundbreaking -- most have been studied for years. Actually, decades. It's just that someone (the Governor) finally said enough is enough and is going to drive the issue home. This type of strong leadership on so many issues will be Mitch Daniels' legacy.
So what will be the Indiana General Assembly's legacy? Ironically, on the issue of how our form of government should be structured (their own turf) they have consistently demonstrated a greater concern for upsetting the apple cart than making real change. Whether mired in strings of bureaucracy or, as Speaker Pat Bauer was quoted as saying, political impossibility, the legislature has failed to act many times on real government reform.
It's not just the lobbying groups. It's because many legislators THEMSELVES were either former local officials or their campaigns were fueled by them - they don't want to reach back and hurt those who have helped them in the political tradition. I can't say that I blame them, but it has become the fox guarding the hen house and it has kept us stagnant, even fueling some of the property tax problems themselves. It has got to stop with this plan.
This is a moment in history to move the state of Indiana forward and it is bigger than all of us. Our government structure was formed in the mid-1800s and, because it is overseen by a politically-motivated system, we've added layers of band aids and bailing wire to hold it together over the years rather than reforming it to meet the real needs of the next few centuries. Not the stuff the average voter thinks about (and still may not understand fully) but critically important nonetheless if you are a steward of the public trust.
It is time for the Indiana General Assembly to create a legacy, not shirk from the responsibility once again. They are finally moved to do something with property taxes since the voters are so angry. Sure, they're really busy next session trying to play catch-up on taxes and it will be hard to fit government reform in. That's if they try to do it "the way we've always done it". Instead, they should see a bigger vision, bite the bullet and usher in BOTH property tax and government reform measures -- they fit together. And it's not like they haven't heard any of it before -- all that's left is to act.
Legislators, it is time to do the right thing.
