Indiana

Let Them Eat Caps!!!

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

As I sat in the Senate Chambers for several hours listening to testimony from township officials trying to save their jobs all I could think of was how some good brie would go well with their whine.  

I will spare you the usual “we’re government closest to the people”, “we live in a rural area”, “did you do a survey” blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.  You’ve heard it all before.  However one thing no township official could answer was how they were going to function in 2010 when the property tax caps kick in and their revenue streams start to shrivel up.

Now granted they are sitting on $200 million in cash reserves.  And the townships do have a point when they say part of the reason they have such large reserves was in part due to state rules that don’t allow them to reduce their property tax levies once set without penalty, but there was nothing to stop them from taking less money the following year.

But when then tax caps hit, and none of these guys have a plan to deal with it, I for one shall sit back, smile and wonder if the tsunami could have been avoided if these guys would have thought about someone other than themselves and something other than their jobs.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on February 12, 2009 (boomark / email).