County Democrats Question Commissioner On Kosciusko’s Debt
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
COUNTY DEBT – So how is the county debt?
Wednesday afternoon, we received a news release from the Kosciusko County Democrats about that.
“Last week during the county commissioner/council forum, Travis McConnell showed a great depth of knowledge of our county budget and the need for changes due to increased spending. His opponent indicated that our county’s Republican leadership has not created much debt. However, data from Indiana Gateway, a state of Indiana database that tracks local government finances, shows that our county actually has more principal debt than approximately 40 other counties in our state, putting us squarely in the middle of the pack. Even when adjusting for population, there are nearly 30 other counties in our state with less principal debt per capita,” the release states.
“To put that in perspective, that is more than $56 of debt for each taxpayer due to the excess spending of the all GOP County Commissioners and Council. For reference, this is nearly $12 higher than the heavily Democratic Marion County (Indianapolis).”
There are Democrat counties with less debt and Republican counties with more, according to the release.
“This does not have to be a partisan issue and Travis showed that he has done his research to look into identifying the issue and a willingness to tackle our spending problem. His opponent indicated multiple times that it is up for the Council to sort out, seeming to display a lack of urgency or willingness to address the issue,” the release concludes.
We reached out to Republican Commissioner candidate and incumbent Cary Groninger for a response. In an email, he said, “During last week’s County Commissioner forum, I talked about the fact that Kosciusko County had very little debt. The only debt that the county has consists of two bond issues for the TIF districts of Louis Dreyfus, Claypool and True Point of Milford. These TIF districts issued bonds for infrastructure improvements to attract these two companies to our county. Additionally, these individual companies purchased the bonds. So, in other words, the county has very little risk as these are not paid out of the general funds, but rather they are paid from the property tax and personal property tax generated in the respective TIF district and therefore the responsibility of debt service is coming from the individual companies.
“The statement from the Democratic Party about the principal debt per capita is not a complete picture of full debt per capita. Using the same data from Indiana Gateway, when you include interest and lease payments, the total debt for Kosciusko County is $64.63 per capital, while Marion County’s is $1,413.60 per capita. That is nearly 22 times greater than Kosciusko County. Leaving out interest and lease payments, as the Democrats did, is not a true picture of the debt that has been encumbered.”
Groninger continued, “Additionally, property tax rates in Marion County are almost 63% greater than the property tax rate in Kosciusko County, which is the second lowest in the state. The LIT tax (local income tax) in Marion County is 102% higher than Kosciusko County, which is the seventh lowest in the state. Additionally, Kosciusko County has the lowest tax rate of all our neighboring counties.
“As you can see, we are truly blessed to live in Kosciusko County, which has benefitted from strong Republican leadership and fiscal policy. The county commissioners have responsibility over their own budget but only after it has been adopted by the County Council.
“In general, the commissioners are responsible for setting policy and the direction for our county while the council is responsible for the budget.
“As a current county commissioner, I am committed to reducing expenses and doing whatever is necessary to keep our budget on track. I am also working on the following priorities: countywide comprehensive plan, rural broadband and work force housing strategies. These priorities will make Kosciusko county a place where our next generation will want to live, work and raise their own children.”
3RD DISTRICT DEBATE – The two candidates vying to serve as congressman representing northeast Indiana will debate the issues in a special live edition of ABC21’s Political Radar on Wednesday.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican, and Democratic nominee Chip Coldiron will field questions from ABC21 anchor and event moderator Brien McElhatten.
The Third Congressional District debate will take place at the Arts, Commerce & Visitors Centre of Wells County and will be broadcast commercial free on ABC21 and livestreamed on its social media and digital properties. Start time for the program is 8:30 p.m.
Due to COVID-19 considerations, seating will not be available to the general public.
Banks is completing his second term in Congress. Coldiron is a teacher at Norwell High School near Ossian. Both men are military veterans and native Hoosiers.
INDIANA GOVERNOR RACE – Speaking of debates, the second of two debates between the three candidates for Indiana governor is scheduled for Tuesday. It will be broadcast from 7 to 8 p.m.
Like the Oct. 20 debate, it will be a virtual-style event conducted in a studio with no public viewing audience.
Candidates are incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb, Libertarian Donald Rainwater and Democrat Woody Myers.
The moderator for this debate is Nadia E. Brown, associate professor and university faculty scholar of political science and African American studies at Purdue University.
For more information, follow the Indiana Debate Commission on its website, Twitter or Facebook page.
Those who attended the Patriot Rally downtown Warsaw Oct. 16 may remember Rainwater was the final speaker.
On Thursday, Rainwater announced that as governor, he would appoint Dawn Wooten as Indiana secretary of education.
Wooten, a professor at Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Indiana Tech and Indiana Wesleyan University, contested the GOP nomination for Indiana secretary of education in 2016, when the office was publicly-elected, statewide.
GOP HOF DINNER – The Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee will present its 45th annual Hall of Fame Dinner Thursday at The Owl’s Nest, 7369 E. CR 800N, North Webster.
Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m.
The keynote address will be provded by Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, incumbent and Republican, who is facing off against Democrat Pat Hackett in the Nov. 3 election for the 2nd District.
The 2020 Man and Woman of the Year also will be announced.
Tickets are $60 per person, or $400 per table. Contact any member of the Central Committee for tickets, if there’s any left.
LA FAMILIA – Noemi Ponce, candidate for Kosciusko County Council at-large, made voting a family affair.
Her sister, Jasmine, and Noemi, wanted to show support for her mother, María, as this was her very first time voting, according to an email we received Wednesday.
María become a U.S. citizen at the end of August and registered to vote shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen. When preparing for her citizenship test, María began to learn America’s history and the importance in voting.
It so happens that María’s own daughter, Noemí, is on this year’s ballot for political office. Maria could not be more proud, coming from a humble beginning, immigrating to the U.S. and is now living the ultimate, American dream. She stated that she felt, “important and validated” when casting her vote.
FORUM – The North Webster Town Council and Tippecanoe Township Advisory Board will hold a forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Township Community Building. The purpose is to discuss forming a fire territory and receive public input.
