Local Control and the Indiana Property Tax

Here is my recent op-ed in the IndyStar, which is part of a point-counterpoint debate in the Sunday Edition over putting property tax caps into the state constitution.

My argument against this is that it will lead to a bigger government, though its proponents (mostly Republicans) think the opposite is true. They could be right, but I think it is much more likely that the state will increasingly take over local government functions due to the volatility of non-property tax revenue sources of income. The operating budget of local schools have already been overtaken by the state as part of the quid pro quo for this policy, and there is discussion that the state might start pushing for a consolidation of smaller school districts to lower costs.

My preference is for locals to retain these functions where they make decisions on the basis of property taxes, rather than less salient sales or income taxes.

IU We're All For You

That's the title of SPEA graduate and rock comedian Brian Smith. He gives a shout-out to SPEA in the video, but in a way that does not flatter our image on campus among the undergraduates. The video is funny, so even if you've never seen IU, you will probably enjoy it.

Still Hope for Indiana Polycentricity

Indiana is still trying to figure out what to do with township governments in the state. To simplify massively: the dominant push is towards centralizing government to the county level, and the conventional view for the existence of pushback is that township-elected politicians/bureaucrats are undermining rationality. I agree that there is a problem when revenues are collected at the township and services are provided by the county, but I would go towards the route of decentralizing services from the county back to the townships, rather than centralizing the revenues to the county. A matter of taste, I guess. In the meantime, the absurdly idealistic goals for this process are the primary hurdle:

Still, a lack of direction hasn’t stopped chatter about nixing township government. Legislators have narrowed the number of possible solutions to about three: abolishing township government completely, getting rid of township boards but keeping elected trustees in each township or letting a voter referendum decide on the changes. But perhaps the most intractable problem for state leaders seems to be finding a solution that fits the needs of all 1,008 townships in the state.

Yes, a Pareto-improving state policy for >1K entities probably will be a challenge.