EDITORIAL: Put county assessors in charge of all property tax assessments

Times of Northwest Indiana

Winding its way through the Indiana General Assembly is a bill that would finally shave off a layer of government.

Sort of.

Senate Bill 16 would transfer duties of township assessors to the county assessor. But it leaves assessing responsibilities in the hands of 44 elected assessors in the state's largest townships, including six in Lake County, two in Porter County and one in LaPorte County.

It makes sense to keep the township assessors in office long enough to ease the transition. But why exclude those 44 townships from the takeover?

Other aspects of the legislation, approved by the Senate and sent to the House, deserve support.

The provision for removing an inept county or township assessor from office is a welcome development. Those officials should have to prove their competence the same as workers in the private sector.

Strengthening certification standards for assessors is sensible, too, to make sure the work is done by qualified individuals instead of people who can't pass muster but are hired or elected anyway.

SB 16 should move forward, but in a revised version.

Keeping township assessors in some townships but not others doesn't make sense. Treat it the same as a routine merger in the business world.

It makes sense that some of the township assessors would want to work for the county. They're already doing the work, after all, so they know how the system works.

Bring all the township assessors under the county's control and make the assessors prove their worth if they hope to stay employed by the county. And make it clear that not everyone will be kept on the payroll.

In the long run, counties should be able to do the assessing work more efficiently and with greater accuracy and accountability.

That's what the push to reinvent government is all about.