Are the Reforms Governor Daniels Proposed Going to Affect You?

Originally posted 2009-01-06 14:07:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Indiana general assembly will be in session soon.  Governor Daniels is planning to outline several proposed reforms.  Will these reforms affect you? Let’s examine.

Below are the outline of the proposed reforms:

• Governor Daniels is proposing replacing the county commissioner with one county executive.
• Governor Daniels is proposing combining election cycles to reduce spending.
• Governor Daniels is proposing making several now elected positions appointed positions.  Those positions include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.
• Governor Daniels is proposing reducing the health care department.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating the local library to a county library.

The proposals that Governor Daniels are outlining in this session of the Indiana General Assembly is according to a Ball State University study estimated to save the state $630 million dollars.  While I happy that the Governor is attempting to save the state money, I have to wonder if there safeguards in place for all the changes that he propose.

Let’s examine each proposal seperately. 

Proposed one has to do with the county commissioners being consolidated into one executive commissioners.  The concerned here is will there be equal representation for all cities and/or all citizens in the county.   Needless to say, there is no safeguard under this proposal for the equal representation of all areas of the county.  Will there be a vote or speaker for each city or town on all issues or will there be one person who decides what is good for the whole with out hearing the whole opinion?

Proposed two is about combining election cycles.  I think this is a good idea.

Proposal three is about appointing not electing certain position to include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.  I feel this to is a good idea if the people who are appointed to these position are qualified for the position.  I do feel that if this is approved there needs to be an outline of the qualification of the person appointed to these positions. 

Proposal four is about the health care departments.  According to the proposal some areas have too many health care departments.    Once again, there is no safeguard in this proposal for transportation for the low income and elder to the facility that will remain open. 

Proposal five is about consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.  There is no safeguard in this proposal for equal funding for all schools in the new combine districts.   

 Proposal six is about consolidating the local libraries into a county district library.  I think this would be a good idea if all libraries remain open and equal funding is available to all.

I am sure the officials have their collectively hands full, but it is definitely time to bring Indiana’s government from the Dark Ages.  It is time to reform.  It is time to make changes because the future of the state depends on it.

What Is Assessed Value and How Does It Influence My Property Tax

Originally posted 2008-12-23 15:35:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

In Indiana, the property tax that is paid on a home, land, building, business machine, or product for sale is determined by the assessed value that the assessor assigns to the asset.  Once the assessed value is determined the amount of property taxes paid on that value is determined by the tax rate for the city in which the property is located.

The tax rate is a very important part of the equation because the tax rate is determined by the budget the town officials believe is needed to run the city.  Items that are needed to run a city vary, but most city rely on property taxes to provide the following items to the citizens of that city:

• police
• fire safety
• library
• school
• health care department
• trash pick up

Some cities have all of these items on the property taxes making the cost to run the city very high.

Now, that the basis of what is included in the property taxes have been discussed.  Let’s look at the changes due to re-assessment of property taxes in Indiana.  In December 1998,  the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the assessment value that was being used was unconstitutional, and the state needed to convert to market value.   Market value is thought to be more uniformed and fair.  It also satisfy the Supreme Court.   However, the change would cause an unfair change in property taxes adjustment to the homeowner.  The homeowner would see an increase of up to 33% and the business owner taxes would see a decrease of up to 18%.

In an effort, to reduce the burden that the reassessment was having on the homeowner, the Indiana General Assembly develop a bill to protect the homeowner.  The bill was to increase the sales tax to offset the property tax burden.  However, the bill did not solve the entire problem, and now the state is considering an uniformed flat rate of one percent of assessed value for homeowner, two percent of assessed value for landlord or investor, and three percent of assessed value for business owners.

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