Post-Tribune
Gov. Mitch Daniels last week wasn't the first official to criticize local government spending in Lake County.
He was just the most recent.
As he stopped in Merrillville to discuss the property tax reform plan he had announced the night before, he criticized Lake County for having 87 taxing districts. That many taxing units, the governor suggested, is the primary culprit for the excessive amount of money raised through property taxes in Lake County.
Daniels wants that spending reduced and has proposed a way to do so as part of the property tax reform.
The response to Daniels' plan to raise the state sales tax by 1 percent to finance the removal of schools from property taxes has been well-received, but that doesn't mean the proposal will sail through the Legislature.
His efforts to limit local spending pose the greatest risk to the tax reform plan. Daniels wants a nine-member tax board in each county to review and approve spending plans for all taxing units. And local spending cannot grow faster than a county's average personal income growth over a six-year period, unless approved by public referendum. All significant local construction projects also would need approval through a referendum.
Those two conditions haven't been well-received by local elected officials. We can appreciate that reaction; the local officials argue they were elected to make the financial decisions, not shift that responsibility to a county tax board.
The tax board, however, has merit in that it will review all budgets and will recognize unnecessary spending or duplication of services.
The bottom line is, it would be wrong for the governor's tax reform plan to be defeated simply because local officials don't want additional scrutiny of their spending proposals.