Indiana

WHOSE MONEY IS IT ANYWAY?

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

A number of Mayors from across Indiana are going to testify this morning before the House Ways and Means Committee about the impact of Governor Mitch Daniels’ proposed caps on property tax assessments. 

Most of them will complain that the caps will hurt their budgets and they will have to cut police and fire.  As much as I respect local officials, I truly wonder if any of these guys get it sometimes.   The purpose of the hard caps is to protect the taxpayers from huge shifts in their tax bills. 

And the money the local officials spend is the taxpayers’ money.  It is not their money!  When property taxpayers were up in arms and many seniors were afraid of losing their homes over high tax bills, where were these officials?   What were they doing to stem the tide of fear and dissent?  A lot of them were nowhere to be found.  But now they are crawling out of the woodwork (especially the schools) to keep their hands on the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. 

Here’s a thought.  If these hard caps which are designed to protect the taxpayer, will do so much damage then pass them.  If the human outcry for the loss of these services will be so loud, then pass the caps and wait and see how long the taxpayers come back and demand these services be restored. 

I get the feeling a lot of people will be waiting for a long time.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on February 11, 2008 (boomark / email).