Kokomo — Former Gov. Joe Kernan is not a supporter of the property tax caps amendment to the Indiana Constitution.
Kernan told a gathering of local officials and residents at the Citizen’s Committee for Consolidation meeting on Monday that changes to the constitution shouldn’t be made in the heat of the moment.
“Constitutional caps freeze the ability of local government to make decisions in the best interest of the community,” Kernan said. “It sounds good, but it inhibits the ability to use property taxes to provide services.”
Last year, voters approved an amendment creating a 1 percent cap for residential property, 2 percent for rental properties and 3 percent for industrial and commercial property.
The push for property tax caps started in 2008, when residential property taxes around the state climbed significantly.
If an elected official raised property taxes and that decision was not supported by local residents, the official should be voted out of office, he said.
Kernan said it’s a good thing that the state has reserves because it is facing significant unfunded liabilities.
“When the state took over funding of the schools, they took $300 million away,” he said, referring to cuts made to public education in 2010. “There is a shortage in the unemployment insurance fund and an unfunded liability in teacher pensions.
“Thank God there are some reserves, because the future is uncertain,” Kernan continued. “We don’t know the full impact of what capping property taxes will be.”
Kernan and Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard headed up a Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2007. The commission’s goal was to make recommendations on local government reform.
The recommendations included changes to the county government structure, elimination of township offices and consolidation of schools.