Indiana

Local Government, Schmocal Government

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

A new poll by Ball State University shows Hoosiers don’t have much faith in local government.  

The poll by the Bowen Center for Public Affairs shows 67 percent of Hoosiers want government to run more efficiently.  In addition the poll showed Hoosiers were willing to pay more for services, but only if the money went to the State and not their local governments.

One glimmer of hope for locals is that only 37 percent said local government was not responsive to their needs, but 53 percent said they would not be willing to give local government more taxing authority to solve problems.

This survey gives ammunition to pro-consolidation forces as the battle over Kernan-Shepard begins in earnest in the Indiana General Assembly.  

Already two of the biggest local government lobbies, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and the Association of Indiana Counties, are a lot more on board with government reform than they were in the past. 

And to be honest, the only people really opposing reform are people who are feeding from the taxpayer trough, of course they would make more sense if they didn’t misquote their own research.

Change is coming people,  get with the program.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on January 06, 2009 (boomark / email).