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Published May 17, 2004

Jury still out on whether NWI officials will fix problem

At the Tax Summit held recently at the Patio Restaurant there was general consensus we now have a tax crisis on our hands. A few days later, Lake Superior Court Judge Robert Pete ruled that it was unconstitutional for the State of Indiana to order an independent reassessment of Lake County , while allowing local assessors to do the reassessment in the other ninety-one counties. We went from crisis to crisis and total confusion. Despite all that, the jury is still out on whether or not we have the collective stomach to begin the process of correcting the problem for the long term.

Over the last four or five years all of our energy has been sapped trying to shift the tax burden on to someone else. The focus of attention has been who is going to pay and not much else. No one has been paying attention to how the cost of government here stacks up against national benchmarks. No one has been questioning whether or not there is a more efficient way of delivering governmental services. As a result, we find ourselves with no corrective actions in place. No real attention has been given to identifying steps that can be taken now, to get ourselves out of the mess in the long term. As long as we continue to act as if it will be okay if we can just shift more of the tax burden on to someone else, it will never be okay.

The short term crisis, which has been in the making for years, is inhibiting any effort to take actions that have long-term implications. "Action" is the key word here. The current fiasco isn't a surprise. It has been looming on the horizon for years. Despite that fact, there has been little "action" taken to resolve the problem. No effort has been expended to change anything.

A multi-pronged approach is called for. We need to start attacking the problem on both the revenue and expense sides of the equation.

First, extensive effort must be expended to make major reductions in the cost of local government. Creative approaches are called for. Partnering and collaboration among local units of government must be explored. At the tax meeting it appeared there was general consensus that significant reductions could be made without affecting the efficiency of services rendered.

Second, we need to be expanding the tax base through economic development; a task that becomes very daunting in light of the confusing property tax picture. It is very difficult to sell Northwest Indiana to a company seeking to relocate when you can't explain what the cost of doing business in the area will be. Nevertheless, the assets of Northwest Indiana are greater than the individual assets of any one municipality. A collaborative approach is called for. Prior to the tax meeting, Dr. Lowery solicited responses from the public regarding suggested solutions to the tax problem. I found it significant that only three of approximately 80 responses received mentioned economic development as a part of the long-term solution to the tax situation.

Third, the issue of tax base sharing needs to be put back on the table for discussion. There should be a summit held to explore all aspects of this option. At the same time, we need to develop a comprehensive land use plan for Northwest Indiana .

None of these ideas are new or creative. They are already being implemented in many other areas of the country. The difference between them and us is that they are acting on these ideas while we are still finding it difficult to even think about them.