Evansville Courier & Press
Imagine for a moment that none of the furor over property taxes that has erupted across Indiana in recent weeks had taken place. Imagine that property tax bills had arrived on time and that they were close to past levels. Imagine that there were no calls for special sessions, tax restructuring and local government efficiencies.
Had none of those taken place, there would have still been a strong argument to be made for the elimination of township government in Indiana. But, of course, it would have fallen on deaf ears, as it has in the past each time a bold public official here or there - Pigeon Township Assessor Paul Hatfield, for example - has proposed ending horse-and-buggy township government.
But all of that uproar did occur, leading to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels this past week creating a blue ribbon commission to study, among other potential steps, local government restructuring, including a close look at township government.
With apologies to all of those property owners who were hit with crippling tax increases, we welcome this opportunity, finally, for a serious look at this form of government.
Indeed, radical change in local government rarely takes place unless there is a crisis that directly impacts citizens otherwise removed from the operations of government. It is one reason why proposals for consolidated city-county government here has failed repeatedly to capture the public's interest.
But we do have such a crisis now, especially in Indianapolis and Marion County, the seat of political power in Indiana. The question of townships may finally make it onto the public agenda.
Daniels took other steps to help hard-hit homeowners, ordering a new reassessment in Marion County. He could do it in some others as well, including Gibson County in Southwestern Indiana. Also in Marion, taxpayers will be required to pay only the amount of taxes they paid last year, pending the reassessment.
But in a more long-term search for solutions, Daniels asked his predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, and Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard to head the commission that will look at a reforming and restructuring local government.
Daniels said the commission will examine and make recommendations on such topics as what local government offices could be eliminated to be more efficient and rule out unnecessary costs. It will also look at how local government might restructure or consolidate to reduce overhead and other expenses.
Among others, the commission will be asked whether a constitutional convention is necessary or desirable as a means to achieve significant reforms and whether township/county property tax assessors should be abolished in favor of a uniform process managed by the state.
The commission will publish a report in late December with recommendations to lower taxpayer costs. It will be available to the 2008 Indiana Legislature.
The commission should have a lot to work with. According to information from the governor's office, Indiana has 2,730 separate units of government with authority to levy property taxes.
Some 37 percent of those separate units - 1,008 - are township units, even though Indiana could probably get along without them by shifting what they do to county governments.
Hoosiers elect township assessors, who work with county assessors on determining property assessments, and township trustees, who give out emergency poor relief, and serve some other functions, depending on the township's size and location.
There was a time when township government made sense, given that modes of transportation were limited, and the township office might be closer than the county seat. But modern transportation and communications changed all that. City and county offices can be reached in minutes. And thanks to new communications devices, we can conduct much of our business with government without ever leaving our homes and offices.
How many of us today, even know where our township offices are located?
And while the public has not paid much attention to past efforts at restructuring local government, township officials and employees have been paying attention. They have a strong lobby in Indianapolis, such that they have in the past successfully discouraged any attempts at elimination.
At least now, with this crisis, reformers get the attention of Hoosiers taxpayers.
Think of it this way: As Daniels said last week, we have multiple layers of government in Indiana - the state, counties, cities and towns, school districts and townships. As our businesses do, and as we do with our personal budgets, when money is tight, we look for unnecessary expenses to cut out.
To us, that looks like townships.
We will be utterly surprised and disappointed if the new commission does not recognize this and recommend the elimination of township government.