We’ve got it good in Howard County. Despite the all-but-stagnant national economy, despite losing a quarter of our employment over the past decade, local governments function well.
Property tax bills are mailed out on time. Every resident has access to a public library. Our five public school systems nurture achievement while keeping a careful watch over taxpayer money; Northwestern Middle School was named a Four Star School just last week.
It’s understandable that some here don’t recognize as needed the 2007 recommendations of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform. But the committee, led by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Chief Justice Randall Shepard, discovered some sobering facts four years ago.
• About 400,000 Hoosiers in 38 counties hadn’t access to a library.
• Some school systems received such little funding, they couldn’t offer the curriculum necessary for their graduates to be admitted at Indiana University Bloomington or Purdue University at West Lafayette.
• Some township trustees spent more on themselves and their staffs than they did in poor relief each year.
Not every bill proposing government reform made it out of Senate committees in 2008. One that would’ve eliminated township government only addressed nepotism and excessive cash reserves. Another, that would’ve forced the consolidation of administrations of school districts of 1,000 students or fewer, wasn’t brought to a vote.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, who established the Commission on Local Government Reform, was disappointed. “We’ll try again next year,” he said.
Four years later, he’ll try again. Among reforms suggested by the Kernan-Shepard commission in 2007, the governor likely will persuade lawmakers to allow counties to reduce the three-person boards of county commissioners to one county executive, prohibit government employees from serving as elected officials of the governments they work for and consolidate small school districts.
Hoosiers usually vote from their front porches. If their trash gets collected, if their streets get plowed, they believe all is right with the world. But there are places in Indiana where residents don’t receive the kind of government services we’re accustomed to in Howard County.
It was for those Hoosiers the Commission on Local Government Reform was established. Its recommendations deserve further consideration this legislative session.