Dist. 22 Candidates Talk About Taxes, Business, Education
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Democrat David Kolbe, Republican Curt Nisly and Independent Michael Stinfer all took part in the Fall 2014 Candidates Forum last night at Center Lake Pavilion, hosted by Times-Union and the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
A full video of the candidate forum can be viewed online at WIOE.com for the next week.
After candidates introduced themselves, the first of five questions asked by moderator and Times-Union General Manager Gary Gerard was, “Do you favor repeal of the Business Personal Property Tax and, if so, what options do you support to replace lost local revenues?”
Kolbe responded, “I made it very clear throughout this campaign that I do not agree with the termination of the Business Equipment Tax and the Business Personal Property Tax. I have spoken with many local leaders at the city, the town, the county level, not just this county. We also serve a part of Elkhart County, which is really in a more severe state, I can tell you, because of the RV industry and the problems there.”
Losing the tax costs counties in Indiana around a billion dollars. Local governments can not function without that, he said. He’s willing to work with those on the committee to replace the tax if needed, but the tax should not be eliminated until a “really good plan” is in place first.
Nisly said, “I think the state legislature came up with a good compromise in this last session where they just took the lower end of personal property taxes and eliminated those. Because what was happening was compliance costs were exceeding what we were collecting on those. It was costing us more to figure out what they would be than what they were actually taking in. So that’s a good step.”
The loss of the tax will leave a gap, Stinfer said, so proactive measures need to be taken.
Gerard then asked, “Who should set curriculum requirements for K-12 schools, and how do you propose to bring the legislature to see your way?”
Nisly answered, “I’m a proponent of local control of government, and that includes schools. Local schools have the best feel for what’s going on.”
Stinfer said it was a no-brainer that local control is the best way “we should govern.”
“The first step in getting back on track is getting bureaucrats out of education,” he said. Common Core was just politics between the left and right, he noted.
Kolbe said the core question was if education should be local, and the answer is an absolute yes, but that’s not the root problem.
“Ever since 2011, Gov. Daniels and (former State Superintendent) Tony Bennett injected a competition model into our schools and I think that’s been a grave error,” said Kolbe.
Problems exist, he said, including the teacher assessment system and the change in the school funding formula.
“The bottom line is: We thrive when our kids thrive. The public education system is the lifeblood of our communities and I will do all I can to work with the agenda of Glenda Ritz and the things she has planned in our area. I’m pleased to announce, and you will see this, that I have received her endorsement and you will see that this Thursday,” Kolbe said.
The third question asked, “What is your view of Indiana’s Right To Work law that bars companies from requiring workers to join a union and pay union dues?”
“It could possibly be the most significant legislature ever passed. You can take it as a good thing, you can take it as a bad thing, depending on who you are,” Stinfer said.
He said he could see both sides of the issue.
Kolbe said he was opposed to the law.
“The net effect of that (law) results in a couple of things. It disempowers unions, and I think that was part of the underlying voting, and it permits a thing we call free-riding,” Kolbe said.
He also indicated he didn’t receive $15,000 from a union to fight Right To Work.
Nisly said, “The fundamental principle behind Right To Work is that nobody should be required to pay just to have a job. So for that reason, Right To Work is good for Indiana, and I support it.”
The next question was, “The Indiana legislature passed a bill permitting lawful gun owners to keep guns in their locked cars at schools. The bill does not allow guns in school buildings or buses. Would you have supported that bill?”
Kolbe said he’s a “mixed bag” when it comes to guns. “The bottom line is, we have to be reasonable in how it comes to guns. Guns are an important part of our society. I don’t have a problem with that. I really wrestled with whether guns ought to be allowed on school property by choice.”
He said he told the NRA he believed he would be opposed to that because after weighing the benefit versus the risk, the risk was too great in his analysis.
Nisly stated, “The answer is absolutely yes. I would have supported that bill.”
Stinfer, a Marine sniper who has been in a gunfight, said that he’s a Second Amendment supporter but, “is it really about carrying guns at the school level or are we worried about our education?”
He said it’s very ignorant “that we look at this, I can’t believe it’s even on the table with things that we have going on with our schools today.”
Candidates were lastly asked to define what they see as District 22’s greatest challenge and how they would work to solve it.
Nisly said the biggest challenge was keeping the orthopedic industry going in Warsaw. Stinfer said the greatest challenge was getting back to the basics and back to loving our neighbors. Kolbe said it was education and local funding and jobs.
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Democrat David Kolbe, Republican Curt Nisly and Independent Michael Stinfer all took part in the Fall 2014 Candidates Forum last night at Center Lake Pavilion, hosted by Times-Union and the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
A full video of the candidate forum can be viewed online at WIOE.com for the next week.
After candidates introduced themselves, the first of five questions asked by moderator and Times-Union General Manager Gary Gerard was, “Do you favor repeal of the Business Personal Property Tax and, if so, what options do you support to replace lost local revenues?”
Kolbe responded, “I made it very clear throughout this campaign that I do not agree with the termination of the Business Equipment Tax and the Business Personal Property Tax. I have spoken with many local leaders at the city, the town, the county level, not just this county. We also serve a part of Elkhart County, which is really in a more severe state, I can tell you, because of the RV industry and the problems there.”
Losing the tax costs counties in Indiana around a billion dollars. Local governments can not function without that, he said. He’s willing to work with those on the committee to replace the tax if needed, but the tax should not be eliminated until a “really good plan” is in place first.
Nisly said, “I think the state legislature came up with a good compromise in this last session where they just took the lower end of personal property taxes and eliminated those. Because what was happening was compliance costs were exceeding what we were collecting on those. It was costing us more to figure out what they would be than what they were actually taking in. So that’s a good step.”
The loss of the tax will leave a gap, Stinfer said, so proactive measures need to be taken.
Gerard then asked, “Who should set curriculum requirements for K-12 schools, and how do you propose to bring the legislature to see your way?”
Nisly answered, “I’m a proponent of local control of government, and that includes schools. Local schools have the best feel for what’s going on.”
Stinfer said it was a no-brainer that local control is the best way “we should govern.”
“The first step in getting back on track is getting bureaucrats out of education,” he said. Common Core was just politics between the left and right, he noted.
Kolbe said the core question was if education should be local, and the answer is an absolute yes, but that’s not the root problem.
“Ever since 2011, Gov. Daniels and (former State Superintendent) Tony Bennett injected a competition model into our schools and I think that’s been a grave error,” said Kolbe.
Problems exist, he said, including the teacher assessment system and the change in the school funding formula.
“The bottom line is: We thrive when our kids thrive. The public education system is the lifeblood of our communities and I will do all I can to work with the agenda of Glenda Ritz and the things she has planned in our area. I’m pleased to announce, and you will see this, that I have received her endorsement and you will see that this Thursday,” Kolbe said.
The third question asked, “What is your view of Indiana’s Right To Work law that bars companies from requiring workers to join a union and pay union dues?”
“It could possibly be the most significant legislature ever passed. You can take it as a good thing, you can take it as a bad thing, depending on who you are,” Stinfer said.
He said he could see both sides of the issue.
Kolbe said he was opposed to the law.
“The net effect of that (law) results in a couple of things. It disempowers unions, and I think that was part of the underlying voting, and it permits a thing we call free-riding,” Kolbe said.
He also indicated he didn’t receive $15,000 from a union to fight Right To Work.
Nisly said, “The fundamental principle behind Right To Work is that nobody should be required to pay just to have a job. So for that reason, Right To Work is good for Indiana, and I support it.”
The next question was, “The Indiana legislature passed a bill permitting lawful gun owners to keep guns in their locked cars at schools. The bill does not allow guns in school buildings or buses. Would you have supported that bill?”
Kolbe said he’s a “mixed bag” when it comes to guns. “The bottom line is, we have to be reasonable in how it comes to guns. Guns are an important part of our society. I don’t have a problem with that. I really wrestled with whether guns ought to be allowed on school property by choice.”
He said he told the NRA he believed he would be opposed to that because after weighing the benefit versus the risk, the risk was too great in his analysis.
Nisly stated, “The answer is absolutely yes. I would have supported that bill.”
Stinfer, a Marine sniper who has been in a gunfight, said that he’s a Second Amendment supporter but, “is it really about carrying guns at the school level or are we worried about our education?”
He said it’s very ignorant “that we look at this, I can’t believe it’s even on the table with things that we have going on with our schools today.”
Candidates were lastly asked to define what they see as District 22’s greatest challenge and how they would work to solve it.
Nisly said the biggest challenge was keeping the orthopedic industry going in Warsaw. Stinfer said the greatest challenge was getting back to the basics and back to loving our neighbors. Kolbe said it was education and local funding and jobs.
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