(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.)
It’s pretty easy for me to become cynical, but down deep, I’m an idealistic optimist. For proof, you only have to consider my lifelong devotion to God’s favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.
That’s why it’s hard for me to admit that I believe the next few years will be some of the darkest and bleakest for Indiana’s local governments, including those in Hendricks County. We’re talking about as bad as when the state became insolvent a decade before the Civil War. I’m not exaggerating or playing Chicken Little. Unless state government undoes or dramatically modifies its most recent property tax reform, you can expect to see significant changes in the services you count on.
Let’s say it currently takes the nearest ambulance 6 minutes to make it to your home – well, after the fire department either closes that station or eliminates its ambulance, the response time may go up to 10 or 12 minutes. That can make a big difference when a loved one is having a stroke.
And the issue won’t be that it costs so much to operate the ambulance – it’s that they won’t be able to staff it. Personnel is nearly always local government’s single highest cost. Less money means you can’t have as many of those employees, or you need to reduce their salaries. Most already make far less than their counterparts in the private sector. Would you be willing to work for what your local government can afford to pay? Many first responders and other public servants will either move to jobs in states and communities that can pay more, or they’ll find new careers. If you think it’s hard to find good people now, just wait.
I could offer a long list of predictions about what your community is likely to lose over the next several years – from shorter hours at the town pool, to how long it takes to get potholes filled, to how often your favorite restaurant gets inspected. The simple fact is that local government – your county, town, township, schools, and libraries – cannot offer the level or the quality of the services you expect if they don’t receive enough tax dollars. Unlike Congress, local governments are prohibited from spending money they don’t have. When they receive less money, they have to do less.
As I’ve noted before, many Hoosier homeowners believe they’re being gouged by property taxes, even though Indiana’s property taxes are among the lowest nationwide. Ask our neighbors in Illinois what they pay. Thanks to previous “reforms,” property taxes represent just 2% of the average Indiana household’s income, compared to 4% in 1970.
When your neighbors complain about property taxes to the Governor and state legislators, their normal response is to blame all those local governments for being wasteful and not tightening their belts enough. I know many Hoosier legislators, and even respect a handful. But if they tell you local government is the real problem, they’re not telling you the whole story. It’s all about how state government has chosen to fund local government. Not just with SEA1, but for decades.
Most of those friendly folks in the Statehouse fear angry taxpayers, because they want to keep their jobs. You want lower property taxes, so they’ll force local government to settle for less money in the hopes of making you happy. Creating “opportunities” for referendums and higher local income taxes allows the state to shift more of the blame and the taxpayer’s anger to counties, towns, and schools. That way, it becomes the locals’ problem, not theirs. But when it becomes the locals’ problem, you’re the one who’s going to suffer the consequences.
There’s an old saying that you can’t fix government by throwing more money at it. That’s absolutely true. But you also can’t fix government by taking its money away. Pay attention to what your state legislators have to say about the issue over the next few months. Then vote accordingly come November.