One of the points of Gov. Mitch Daniels' property tax plan is a government reform proposal that would eliminate township assessors and replace them with a single county assessor appointed by the county commissioners and council.
Meanwhile, the local government reform report by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Chief Justice Randall Shepard takes Daniels' plan a lot further. We believe much of what they advocate makes sense in bringing about simpler and more accountable government.
There are 1,100 assessors throughout the state of Indiana. Both the Daniels and Kernan-Shepard proposals call for eliminating township assessors -- dropping the number to 92 (one for each county) and making those elected county assessors appointed.
The idea behind both is to standardize and professionalize the assessment process by requiring that the person filling the position have the qualifications and credentials to fulfill the job.
Kernan-Shepard goes further. They'd extend those professional standards to offices including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder and surveyor -- some of the 10,700 elected officials in the state of Indiana in the 2,700 local units of government which levy property taxes. As you might imagine, with that many offices, it's sometimes difficult to know who's responsible for what and why.
Perhaps the most important piece of the Kernan-Shepard plan, however, is the change to a single county executive from the three-member board of commissioners. By switching to that type of system and appointing key administrative positions, in effect counties would move to a more appropriate municipal model of governing.
The county council -- the legislative/fiscal body -- would match the city councils in scope, but representation would be expanded to ensure enough coverage for rural, suburban and urban populations, according to the report.
Under the Kernan-Shepard plan, township government duties, including assessment, poor relief, fire and ambulance service and cemeteries would be transferred to counties.
The single county executive is a more practical model for accountability, as it is in cities and towns. It's also a more responsive form of government. It maintains a level of familiarity with the people it serves.
The goal of both Daniels' tax reform proposal, as well as the Kernan-Shepard report, is to bring about more efficiency and accountability to government. By taking the best parts of both plans, Indiana can come up with a model that works for the taxpayers.