District 22
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
In Indianapolis, crucial negotiation and debate ensues on the structure of property taxes in Indiana. In the last four years, Wabash and Kosciusko counties suffered a host of indignities at the hands of the state, including the confiscation of two license branches, the leaching of funds to central Indiana through the lease of a toll road into which northern Indiana drivers paid user fees for years, and just weeks ago, the failure to adequately regulate the dam in Syracuse, causing flooding through a portion of the business district. During the same four years, the state has failed to provide significant tangible improvements for House District 22. All take and no give has made this electorate testy.
With this recent history of doing us harm, the legislative leadership in Indianapolis now acts without our state representative even being in the House Chamber. State Representative Bill Ruppel has been absent from the House. He missed the final vote on the House version of property tax reform (roll call No. 30). Unsuccessful in defending us during recent sessions of the General Assembly, he was at least a warm body, potentially reminding the leadership of the impact their actions might have. Now, we lack even that most basic protection. Let's not forget that the loudest demands for property tax relief have come from Marion County, which benefited substantially during the last legislative session. Who do you think will get the gold mine this year, and who will get the shaft?
With the Daniels administration's growing cry for Constitutional amendments, amendments designed to change forever the foundation of government at the town, township, and county levels, I ask if you trust those who failed to protect us before to protect us now? A change in license branch operation is an occasional headache, but Constitutional amendments cause changes shaping the fabric of our fundamental freedoms and everyday lives.
This is a critical moment for House District 22, and for the state as a whole. Will we continue to slide on a path that takes from the countryside and gives to the urban underbelly, or will we support multi-level government, in which each level respects the others, and no higher level plays favorites among the lower levels?
Bill Dixon
Resident of District 22
Syracuse, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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In Indianapolis, crucial negotiation and debate ensues on the structure of property taxes in Indiana. In the last four years, Wabash and Kosciusko counties suffered a host of indignities at the hands of the state, including the confiscation of two license branches, the leaching of funds to central Indiana through the lease of a toll road into which northern Indiana drivers paid user fees for years, and just weeks ago, the failure to adequately regulate the dam in Syracuse, causing flooding through a portion of the business district. During the same four years, the state has failed to provide significant tangible improvements for House District 22. All take and no give has made this electorate testy.
With this recent history of doing us harm, the legislative leadership in Indianapolis now acts without our state representative even being in the House Chamber. State Representative Bill Ruppel has been absent from the House. He missed the final vote on the House version of property tax reform (roll call No. 30). Unsuccessful in defending us during recent sessions of the General Assembly, he was at least a warm body, potentially reminding the leadership of the impact their actions might have. Now, we lack even that most basic protection. Let's not forget that the loudest demands for property tax relief have come from Marion County, which benefited substantially during the last legislative session. Who do you think will get the gold mine this year, and who will get the shaft?
With the Daniels administration's growing cry for Constitutional amendments, amendments designed to change forever the foundation of government at the town, township, and county levels, I ask if you trust those who failed to protect us before to protect us now? A change in license branch operation is an occasional headache, but Constitutional amendments cause changes shaping the fabric of our fundamental freedoms and everyday lives.
This is a critical moment for House District 22, and for the state as a whole. Will we continue to slide on a path that takes from the countryside and gives to the urban underbelly, or will we support multi-level government, in which each level respects the others, and no higher level plays favorites among the lower levels?
Bill Dixon
Resident of District 22
Syracuse, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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