I've been an elected official for 28 years come Jan. 1, 2009, and I believe in township government. I strongly believe that until you actually do the job, you don't understand the ends and outs of it. I know when I started this adventure I had no idea what a township trustee assessor did, but I do now. In my opinion, more of our elected government officials should start with grassroots government and they might understand the system instead of pretending to. We need your help! Please read this.
Township government continues to find itself in the crosshairs of local government consolidation taking place at the Statehouse. The release of the Kernan-Shepard Commission report last fall has sparked a renewed interest to do away with local elected officials in favor of overly-centralized government within each county.
One of the 27 recommendations contained in the report was the total elimination of township government. This report also wants to do away with many county level offices and have one county executive. To me that is scary as hell. As of July 1, the majority of township government (those with more than 15,000 parcels retained their assessing duties, but up for referendum this November, Kosciusko County has no township more than 15,000) lost their duties of assessing to the county level, thanks to our current state legislators and governor. The current county assessor chose not to retain our offices as satellite offices for assessing to serve our townships, which she was given the power to do. The township official knows your local area better than the ones who don't even live in it. Remember this when you go to the polls to cast your votes this year and the coming years.
A total of $300,000 - $500,000 will be spent by lobbying firms to push this agenda during the 2009 legislative session. Make no mistake - with these resources at their disposal, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Indiana Association of Realtors and Central Indiana Corporate Partnership will be able to supplement their already sizable lobbying teams with strong government affairs professionals.
If the commission's recommendations are implemented by the General Assembly, democracy in Indiana will be severely diminished. Townships' efficiencies bear out the fact that the overall impact on property taxes - our primary source of revenue - is less than 3 percent statewide and less than 1 percent in many areas of the state. That is less than 3 percent to care for Indiana's needy and provide fire protection, cemetery care, community buildings, 4-H leaders, EMS, Memorial Day expenses and many other services that are within your township.
Small units of government are more accessible and more accountable to the electorate which is the equivalent to democracy.
To demonstrate the broad support that exists in Indiana for smaller, more local government, and to give a voice in these discussions to ordinary citizens, the Indiana Township Association has launched a new website - www.HoosiersforDemocracy.org. Please take the time to visit the website and sign the online petition, and encourage anyone else you know to do the same. Please pass this on to your family and friends in the State of Indiana, we need your help to serve our own communities!
Julia Goon, Prairie Township Trustee
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editors Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit stated in our letters policy.
