EDITORIAL: Report presents our local government as it should be

TERRE HAUTE - If you were to assemble a group of smart, forward-thinking people to create from scratch a structure of local self-government, the end result would almost certainly resemble the plan proposed last week by the Kernan-Shepard Commission.

Unencumbered by past tradition nor bound by the mind-numbing intricacies of partisan politics, it's easy to understand how the Commission on Local Government Reform arrived at its series of common-sense proposals. The only thing revolutionary about them is that they represent a radical departure from the way Indiana has been governing itself for more than a century and a half.

The commission, headed by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Randall Shepard, chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, performed its valuable work at the request of Gov. Mitch Daniels. With The Great Property Tax Debacle of 2007 as its backdrop, the commission's task was to review Indiana's local government structure and suggest ways it could be made more efficient and cost effective, with an eye in the long term on reducing the overall price tag of doing the public's business and creating a system more professional and less political.

While specific points and proposals will certainly be the subject of hot debate in coming weeks and months, we like what we see from the commission. Many of these proposals are not new, but we hope they have finally reached a point where they receive a fair hearing in both the legislature and the court of public opinion.

The following key points are particularly appealing:

• Establish a single elected chief executive to oversee county government, rather than a group of county commissioners. That official would appoint the sheriff, auditor, treasurer and some other county offices that are currently elected positions.

• Create a single, unified legislative body for county government, which would take over the legislative duties of current county commissions. The body could be an expanded county council or something similar to Marion County's city-county council.

• Transfer all township responsibilities, including property tax assessments, to the county executive.

• Move municipal elections to an even-year cycle like all other elections as a way to save money and increase voter turnout.

• Reorganize school districts to have at least 2,000 students in each one. Currently, more than half of Indiana's 293 school districts in Indiana have fewer than 2,000 students, while 46 districts have fewer than 1,000 students.

The commission's report is on target with the ways such reform would benefit the state's taxpayers. People would know who to thank or who to blame for government performance and spending; voters would choose fewer elected officials for more important, understandable positions in government; and local government would be more understandable, more efficient, more effective and more accountable.

Taxpayers have been waiting patiently for several months to see what the commission would suggest and how it might help Indiana's situation. The commission's report did not disappoint.