If you read yesterday’s post, I provided you with some details about why the Indiana State Teacher’s Union is not a big fan of the property tax reform plan that came out of the Legislature.    Well, today I have another one for you.

ISTA was critical of the State picking up the final 15 percent of the operation costs in order to provide homeowners with property tax relief.  In an e-mail to its members the organization said the state picking up the tab would leave no local source of funding for those costs.

What this is really about is contract negotiations.   Think about this.  A few years from now a school district and its local teachers’ union will sit down to negotiate a contract.  Things will go south and probably hit a major impasse.  The union will demand more money and the district will say they don’t have it, the State does so go negotiate with them.  That local will have to go to the state and right after one does it another will follow and then another and then another.

Eventually this could lead to statewide negotiations between the State and ISTA.   And I would argue it would be much more difficult for a teacher’s union to hold the entire state hostage over contract negotiations than a local school district.

Now you know the rest of the story.

I can’t believe there are people in this world who can’t grasp the concept of reform.  I have heard people complain that local governments will lose money.   I think what they mean to say is governments will get to keep less of YOUR money. One group that doesn’t get it is the Indiana State Teacher’s Association.  Check out this excerpt from an e-mail they sent out to their members.

“Property tax relief legislation passed both Houses Friday and is expected to cause negative repercussions to schools and other local units of government. The legislation shifts the last 15% of local property support for the School General Fund to the state, leaving instruction  without the safety net of local funding when state funds decline.   State revenues are now $250 million LOWER than projected for 2009 and revenue growth forecasts are being revised downward.”

Let me translate this into English, “We won’t have as much of the taxpayers’ money to play with anymore.”  Here’s another excerpt.

“Among the promises to public education which are now not likely to be kept are: State-wide implementation of full-day kindergarten; funding for PL 221 mandated standards; funding for the P-16 Education Plan; restoration of remediation funding.  Most importantly, school funding formula increases in 2009 and 2010 are in doubt.”

Let me translate this section into English for you, “We won’t have as much of the taxpayer’s money to play with anymore.”

I have yet to hear from one person who complained that the government was losing money who did not work for the government.   Local governments should use this opportunity to reinvent themselves by consolidating, privatizing and looking for efficiencies.    And if the squeeze is going to be put on them then I say fine.  They should have been doing this a long time ago. 

It’s a new day in Indiana and it’s time for everyone to get with the program or get lost.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced this weekend that he is picking former City-County Councilor Sherron Franklin to oversee the city’s efforts to reduce the number abandoned homes. Ballard made the announcement Saturday at the monthly meeting of the Marion County Neighborhood Associations. Franklin, a Democrat and police officer, will be assigned under IMPD’s Crime Reduction Strategist program. She will be assigned to the Mayor’s office as part of a special unit and will work with Deputy Mayor of Neighborhoods Olgen Williams.

Abandoned homes was one of Franklin’s main issues while she served on the council from 2003-2007. As a City-County Councilor her goal was to increase the accountability of owners of abandoned homes. A formal announcement is expected in the near future. There at 7,000 abandoned homes in Indianapolis.

Okay, okay, enough with the Journey references already! But I couldn’t help myself. Let’s face it, it’s not everyday you get your hands around the biggest property tax reform package in darn near 50 years. So while my last post was who gets the credit, with this post we do another survey, who wins and who loses under this plan, politically speaking. Here is my list…

Winners (At Least for Now Anyway)

Governor Mitch Daniels - It was his plan. He got the Legislature to go along with most of it. His re-election effort just go a lot easier.

Sen. Luke Kenley - If Daniels was the architect, Kenley was the builder. That guy is brilliant.

House Speaker Pat Bauer - The Speaker is nothing if not one of the smartest politicos I have ever met in this state. He saw what was coming and made sure his members would be safe. By the way, sources close to the House Democrat leadership team say they knew they were going to vote for the proposal days before it passed, knowing there was no way this session could go by without real tax reform.

Senate Pro Temp David Long & House Republican Leader Brian Bosma - Not bad guys. And a little 11th hour posturing with a joint news conference didn’t hurt either. But you know what, it worked. Don’t hate the players folks, hate the game.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard - With the state assuming the burden of a number of levies (including the pre-1977 police pensions that his critics called him an idiot for asking for even though they now says it’s a good thing for all of Indiana) the city will save an estimated $65 million. That seems pretty darn close to the $70 million the Mayor promised to cut. See, timing is everything in politics.

Anyone running for re-election - Any lawmaker who is running for re-election and who voted for this reform plan is basically a shoe-in. If you know the perfect campaign counter strategy, let me know.

Losers (Or better luck next year)

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Schellinger - Schellinger is a smart guy, but to put out a news release to say the state needs to wait until next year for tax reform is the equivalent of handing Daniels a victory on a silver platter with a square plate and garnish on the side.

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jill Long Thompson - By passing tax reform, lawmakers took this issue away from the Democratic candidate and so now she’s going to have to find something else to run on. By they way, Speaker Bauer told us Friday he would have no problem pointing out errors in the criticism of the plan by either Thompson or Schellinger.

State Sen. Mike Delph - Delph tried to push an illegal immigration plan through that had more constitutional issues than the play 1776. And then the fight got personal towards the end and from what I hear almost came to blows in a Senate caucus. My suggestion, pass a law that says if the federal government finds an employer has hired illegal immigrants, then the state can step in and take the business’ license away. You’ll find you avoid a lot more grief that way.

SJR-7 Supporters - Like I tell my friends who are Chicago Cub fans, sorry guys, this wasn’t your year. Better luck next season when voters aren’t as concerned about losing their homes as opposed to who’s living next door to them.

Indiana Sheriffs - Now that lawmakers have made their pay equal to that of the County Prosecutors’ they can no longer make as much, or more, than the President of the United States.

Indiana Township Assessors -It’s been real and it’s been fun. Next time it will be real fun. Although they may be all out of a job soon, they may still get the last laugh out the door when the final reassessment numbers come back. That issue ain’t over by a longshot.

Kernan-Shepard Commission Supporters - Wait ’til next year.

Singing the Blues

Local governments - They’ve argued they’re going to lose a ton of money under this plan with the property tax caps, however they forget to mention the local option income tax which can be used to replace that revenue and the state is picking up levies that they have been clamoring for for years. So we’ll see.

Radio Talk Show Hosts, Pundits and Bloggers - Our livelihoods are centered around controversy and now the biggest issue of the last 25 years has been taken off the table in a bi-partisan fashion. Oh well, another issue will pop up soon because as the song goes, “the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on.”

Okay guys, you knew this one was coming, it’s time to pick the person or persons most responsible for the first real meaningful tax reform in Indiana in 50 years.

You can pick Governor Mitch Daniels, Sen. Luke Kenley, State Representative Bill Crawford, etc.  You can also pick the tax protesters, Eric Miller, whomever.

My nominee, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.  Had he not lost his election which sent shock waves throughout this state and gave every elected official a major wake up call about how angry the voters were, this would not have happened to the extent that it did.

I’ll glad take your nominations over the weekend.  Enjoy your relief.

With strong majorities in both chambers Indiana lawmakers gave Hoosiers what they have been asking for months, property tax reform.   The House voted 82-17 and the Senate 41-6 to cap assessments, cut taxes and assume levies, among other things.  The two chambers by similar margins voted to put the tax caps in the Indiana Constitution.  A number of lawmakers said while they liked the idea, just all of them acknowledged that it may be necessary to make adjustments in the legislation as time goes by.

However what I thought was most interesting is that a number of officials showed how flexible they were; not by voting for a bill they had problems with, but by patting themselves on the back while poking others in the eye.

It looks like there definitely is a deal reached amongst Indiana lawmakers. In an interview this morning with State Rep. Jeff Espich (R-Uniondale), the House Republican point man on tax relief, he told me that there are caps in the agreement; one percent for homeowners, two percent for rentals and three percent for commercial property. Espich says the caps will benefit Marion County as 91 percent of the residential property is assessed at more than one percent of its assessed valuation. He says Hoosiers should expect an average 25 percent cut in the property tax bills. He also says the state’s assessment system is being reformed to make it more fair and uniform.

Espich also says SJR-1, the proposal to put caps into the State Constitution is still there to make the property tax relief permanent. He adds there is a one percent increase in the state sales tax and the state will keep it’s property tax replacement credits to pay for child welfare, pre-1977 police pensions and school operation costs. Espich also says there is referendum language for school and civic construction projects.

Democrat State Rep. Terry Goodin (D-Crothersville) says while caps will help some residential property taxpayers, but there will be others who will see a tax increase if their current assessments are below one percent. He also says there is relief for renters and low-income Hoosiers. He says the assessor issue still has to be worked out, but it’s likely that assessors in townships with less than 15,000 people will be eliminated. Assessors in those in townships with more than 15,000 parcels will be subject to elimination via referendum. Goodin says the priority for Democrats was to provide Hoosiers with tax relief, but also to protect schools.

State Senator Pat Miller (R-Indianapolis) says there’s anywhere between $600-$700 million in relief. She says for her the problem with assessments hasn’t been the assessors but the assessment process and that local government reform (i.e. the Kernan-Shepard Commission report) will get addressed next session.

State Senator Tim Skinner (D-Terre Haute) says his caucus has been worried that the caps will create a shortfall for local governments.

Neil Pickett, Policy advisor to Governor Mitch Daniels says lawmakers will tackle government consolidation next session because it will be necessary to control costs.  He says we are now entering a new era of taxpayer protection and it’s important not to go backwards.

Details still need to be worked out but all  lawmakers say they will be able to adjourn on time tomorrow.

Make a note, my sources tell me Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama will be here Saturday doing a town hall meeting at Plainfield High School in Hendricks County.  It makes perfect sense if you think about.  If I was a black guy running for President, I’d make sure a lot of my supporters looked like someone else so could show I had crossover appeal.

That’s about as long as Indiana lawmakers have to close up shop with a deal on property tax reform before they have to start all over.  From what I’ve been able to gather late this afternoon, it looks like a deal has been reached on caps but they won’t be included (for now) in the state Constitution.  Lawmaker are also, I’m told, working on which entities might be exempt from the caps.

It also looks like the state is going to pick up a number of levies, including the pre-1977 police pension fund which has socked Indianapolis for $25 million a year on average.  In addition it also looks like the city won’t have to repeal the increase in the local option income tax and instead will be able to provide residents with more property tax relief.

This is what I hear for now, as always this could change.  But this is what I know right now.

Other news:  Barack Obama will be here Saturday.   My sources tell me they don’t know exactly when, but it will be an event near the airport.

The State Election Commission met this afternoon to hear a number of challenges.  It turned down a challenge to John McCain appearing on the ballot by holding signatures gathered in Indiana’s 4th Congressional District did meet state requirements.

It also turned down a challenge to State Senator Brent Waltz’ residency and was split over whether to hear whether Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger violated campaign finance law through use of a private plane to make campaign trips.

We’ll be at the State House tomorrow morning broadcasting live so be sure to tune in.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is in big trouble for letting his little head do the thinking for his big head.  But I have to ask this question.  Why is prostitution a crime?  Why is it illegal to sell something you either give away for free or get for dinner, a movie and some effort?  Let’s have a discussion.