BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | A throng of Hammond firefighters descended on the Statehouse on Monday in the hopes of heading off a financial emergency.
The city stands to lose nearly a third of its budget, or about $21 million next year, if lawmakers press ahead with property tax caps sought by Gov. Mitch Daniels. So roughly a third of the Hammond Fire Department, or about 60 firefighters, came out to show legislators what's at stake.
Dozens more public safety officials from across Indiana, including a handful of East Chicago firefighters and paramedics, formed a dense crowd outside the House Ways and Means Committee. Inside the hearing room, Hammond Fire Chief Dave Hamm warned legislators that the budget cuts triggered by the tax caps would cost lives.
"One thing that I can assure you is our response time will worsen, and there will be deaths," Hamm said. "Please, please do not take that as a threat. ... It's just a matter of fact. It's going to happen."
Daniels wants to limit tax bills to 1 percent of assessed value for homeowners, 2 percent for landlords and 3 percent for businesses beginning in 2009. But his so-called circuit breaker would provide taxpayers relief by restricting the property tax revenue that flows to local government and schools, with Lake County alone expected to lose about $252 million next year.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. has said there's no way his city can shed $21 million overnight without affecting police and fire protection.
Meanwhile, Gary stands to lose nearly $47 million to the tax caps beginning next year. And East Chicago would have to cut its budget by more than half to meet the $31 million in spending cuts prescribed by the Republican governor.
"Where are they going to cut from?" asked Angel Gilarski, an East Chicago firefighter. "It's going to affect public safety. It's going to affect police, the fire department, EMS, other vital parts of the community. We're all going to be affected somehow."
State Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, said the stark message delivered by firefighters from the region sharply contrasts the more pleasant talk of rescuing homeowners from unfair property taxes.
"That's all they hear, for the most part. They don't see what it means," she said. "(The impact of the caps) is a huge concern. We have to get that message out to the public."
Candelaria Reardon, the lone region legislator on the Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers must devise some way to spare essential services -- including public safety -- from the wrath of the tax caps. One downstate lawmaker asked Hamm why Lake County didn't "help itself" last year by imposing a local income tax.
"It's a matter of county politics, plain and simple," Hamm said. "It's not the city of Hammond's fault. Nor is it (the fault of) Gary, East Chicago or any other community inside of Lake County. We do not control the (Lake) County Council or the commissioners, and they refuse to do it."