Post-Tribune
It would easy to get excited about a study intended to come up with recommendations to reduce the cost of government and, thus, result in lower property taxes.
That's the hope of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who named former Gov. Joe Kernan and Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard to head a commission that will recommend:
-- What local government offices -- specifically, township and county assessors -- might be eliminated?
-- What local units of government -- including schools and libraries -- might be consolidated to reduce administrative expenses?
-- What services or functions of local government might be reduced, eliminated or provided in new ways.
-- Is a constitutional convention necessary or desirable as a way to achieve reforms in state government?
While all those are worthy goals that could result in reduced property taxes, we are pessimistic about potential successes.
The commission will have little choice but to paint its recommendations with a broad brush, which cannot take into account local factors, such as why Lake County needs seven library systems and 16 school districts.
Complicating the problem is that any significant local changes would need General Assembly action -- something legislators are leery of doing for political reasons.
Nevertheless, some solid recommendations probably will result, although implementation of those proposals likely won't make much of an impact on the property tax problem the commission is hoping to fix.
While we commend Daniels for trying to reduce government and property taxes, we think he would be better off naming a commission to do a comprehensive analysis of the state's tax system, with an eye toward drastically reducing or eliminating the reliance on property taxes.