One of the items on this November's ballot is a referendum on whether to eliminate the Township Assessor's office. I cannot speak to the quality of the assessments in all of Marion Co.'s townships, but the performance of the Center Township Assessor has been, in a word, abysmal. Things are so fouled up in this office that the County Assessor assumed responsibility for the reassessment ordered by Gov. Daniels. This all points to incompetence on the part of the elected assessor, Eugene Ackers. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to wait until his office comes up for election. We must act as soon as possible. I call upon the citizens of Center Township to stand up and vote for more efficient government and vote YES on Referendum 1, located on the reverse side of the ballot:
“Should the assessing duties of the Elected Township Assessor in the township be transferred to the County Assessor?”
Just vote Yes.
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4 comments:
What I don't understand is how centralization of assessors will help with higher quality assessments. Aren't we better off if we have more, decentralized assessors, that we can vote out more easily if they do a bad job? Isn't it harder to get rid of an assessor who does a horrible job for Center Township, if other townships feel she/he does a good job for them? It seems like the issue with assessments is a lot deeper than the # of assessors.
By centralizing we have a better chance that the overall county assessment will reflect a more uniform evaluation. And you're right the issue is much deeper than the # of assessors. The assessment system needs to be simplified to the point that all subjectivity is removed from it.
So if we remove all subjectivity from the assessment process, isn't it better to have a more decentralized process where we can throw the suckers out if they add subjectivity back into the process? Do we gain either efficiency or equity by having a centralized office? I don't know the answer, but am just considering the question. Generally I consider centralized bureaucracies to be less responsive to the needs of the people, than local organizations. The most important part is that the citizenry be involved in the process, and understand what's going on. When we simply elect the officials, and then stop paying attention, that's where these problems pop up.
You see? there is no answer to this problem. The system is broken and it will never be fixed.
If you tweek a falling down house, it is still a falling down house.
They need to bulldoze property tax altogether...ELIMINATE it.
It is neither "uniform" or "equal" as demanded by Art 10 of the Indiana Constitution.
Therefore, the ONLY answer is to repeal and eliminate property tax.
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