Citizens for

    Common Sense                 July 2008

 Seeking government that is responsible and responsive to taxpayers in St. Joseph County, IN

 

Beware the Option Taxes



St. Joe County residents did not get the full protection of the property tax caps given to the rest of the state.

                          (See “Property Tax Debacle” article)

Why?  Because our county and cities had so badly overspent they couldn’t afford to pay existing debt without the higher property taxes.

                         (See “The Truth about County Debt”)

So what are our county and cities going to do next?

·       Spend more

                                  (See “New Spending Projects”)

·       Divert future tax dollars

                       (See “New Airport TIF Expansion”)

·       Raise our INCOME taxes!

                        (See “New Option Taxes Considered”)


What’s a citizen to do? 

·        Start contacting current elected officials to say NO to overpriced projects and NO to new option taxes.

                                            (See Contact Info inside)

·        Elect new people who are NOT part of the entrenched political machine.

                       (See “Are There Any Real Dems Left?”)

·        Go to work for one or more candidates who will actually be working for us.

                                               (See “Candidate Bios”)

·        Be vigilant for fellow citizens needing our help when the political system targets them.            (See “Ozzie’s Story”)

·        Meet with other concerned citizens about what else we can do   (See below)


Text Box: If you are concerned about any of the local governments issues listed above, please join us for a general discussion and action-planning session:

Wed, July 23 at 7pm
Mishawaka Public Library (209 Lincolnway East)

Bring ideas, bring friends, meet candidates, get involved!
 


Property Tax Debacle

As you may recall, Citizens for Common Sense joined a statewide Taxpayers Alliance last fall to push for the repeal of property taxes.  We met to review the numbers, we traveled downstate, and we spoke before the House Ways and Means Committee.  But despite having the numbers right in front of us, showing how a repeal of property taxes could work (by capping state spending, increasing the state income tax 1%, the sales tax 2%, and adding a corporate income tax), we were constantly told that the numbers don’t add up.

Our state legislators then did a whirlwind session, enacting a huge bill (1001) which had provisions in it they never even had a chance to read.  The good news is that it had provisions like moving school general funding off local taxes and capping individual property taxes.  The bad news is that there were provisions chiseling away at township government and other pieces whose effects are not even known yet.

But the really bad news is that out of 92 counties in the state, TWO were singled out as NOT getting the full protection of the caps.  Whereas homeowners in the other 90 counties will not see their property taxes exceed 1% of their home’s assessed value, we in St. Joe County and the people of Lake County (Gary), do not have that protection.  The admitted reason we two counties were singled out is because our governments have such high debt that they couldn’t pay it off if under the caps.

It is really not surprising that our county has overspent its budgets (city, county, airport, etc.).  We, and Lake, have both been subject to decades of entrenched politicians who have created overpriced public construction projects in order to keep their political machine well oiled by the companies and laborers who profit from the construction, despite the overall impact on us taxpayers.  It was also not a surprise to learn that our exclusion from the caps was masterminded and pushed through by Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend).


 The Truth about County Debt

Did you notice that right after the new stories appeared explaining how St. Joe County residents would not get the full protection of the property tax caps due to our county’s high debt, there was a public protest from county government that they had only a normal debt?

Within a day of South Bend Tribune articles clearly stating, ”The intention is to give Counties with a lot of debt the ability to pay down the debt, said Bauer” (Mar 14, SBT) and “…you couldn’t do it in those two counties because the debt was so high, Bauer said.” (Mar 14, SBT), we got a statement from Deputy Auditor Cindy Bodle that “the debt load in St. Joseph County is about average compared to other counties.” (Mar 15, SBT).

Huh?  Which is it?  We think we have the answer.  First of all, there is the total county which includes the budgets of the cities, schools, etc, then there is county government itself, which Bodle claims has a bond debt of only about $5 million.  Say what?  We’re not even halfway through paying for a $55 million jail and an over $20 million juvenile center!

Ah, but wait!  Technically, those two aren’t bonds, we are leasing them from dummy corporations (set up so the county could get past its constitutionally-imposed bond limits).  We don’t have the option of NOT leasing them, of course, but Bodle can still claim they are not part of our (bond) debt.  Don’t you love it?

Did You Know?

Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) has a Republican challenger in November?

It is businessman Kevin Mitschelen from Mishawaka and you can learn more about him from his website coming soon at ElectKevinMitschelen.com

 

 

 
 


 




New Spending Projects

To the astonishment of taxpayers across the county, as gas prices rise dramatically and food prices climb due to ethanol production, our county is proposing new projects!  Not just one but several “million-dollar-plus” projects:

* New Community Corrections & Work Release Center – a 14,000 sq. ft. building to replace three old houses now in use                                         -- $3 million

 

* Renovate old jail into courtrooms           -- $3.5M

 

* New morgue of 7,000 sq ft to be a regional facility even tho we only see one body every three days         -- $750,000 already set aside

* New Emergency Services Center –proposed in ‘07 as a communications center to handle police & fire dispatch for $16M ($12M = new radio equipment); Jan ‘08 added a public safety training center raising the price to $20 million; Mar ’08 proposed that it be “scaled down,” but new size not specified. Note: Fire dispatch for the entire county is currently being handled by a single room in a Clay Township fire station!                                                --  < $20 million !!?


New Airport TIF Expansion

A TIF District is an area set aside by a local government, in this case South Bend, for economic development.  They define the area as needing assistance and then TIF it.

TIF is Tax Incremental Financing.  It means that whatever new businesses locate in that area, their property taxes will NOT go to the city, county, or schools, but instead will go into a special fund to build “infrastructure” (roads, bridges, lights, landscaping) within the District,

To avoid start-up costs, South Bend has been combining all its TIFs into one giant district -- the Airport Economic Development Area.  This TIF has pieces not only around the airport but throughout the Sample-Ewing Corridor and now all of Portage Prairie in German Township.

The problem with TIFs is that none of their property taxes go to the police, fire, EMS and other support those businesses use.  WE, the taxpayers, end up paying for their support services., while the city gets a pot of funds for development, and the schools, libraries, etc. get nothing.


_ _ _    _ _ _    _ _ _    _ _ _    _ _ _    _ _ _   _ _ _    _ _ _

New Option Taxes Being Considered

 


The new property tax caps hadn’t even passed into law before our local mayors and county officials were talking about adding option income taxes!  There are three possibilities:

 

1.  One option tax that is available is the 1% income tax option which came with Governor Daniel’s Circuit Breaker program a year ago.  Funds from this tax can only be used to replace lost revenue from LOWERED property taxes.  But will our county claim that the new caps have lowered it for them, so they now have a right to implement this new option tax?

 

2.   Our existing option income taxes, COIT and CEDIT have not been taken to the maximum allowed by law.  COIT was voted in under an automatic program that took it to .6%.  CEDIT started at .1% and was moved to .2%. 

Together they add up to .8%.  But state law allows them to add up to a full 1%.  Our county and cities could still go for the additional .2%.

 

3.  There is also a new provision under state law for a public safety income tax which tops out at .25%.  This money is to be used for police, fire and EMS.  The county has police and EMS; the cities have police and fire.

 

So, Which of these options will St. Joe County, South Bend and Mishawaka go for?  Incredibly, rumor has it that they will go for ALL THREE.  Yes, our county income tax could go from the current .8% clear up to 2.25%, nearly tripling.  That’s almost as much as we pay in state income tax (3.4%) and together with it, would put our total income tax to the state and county at 5.65%!!


 

CONTACT INFO

 

To contact the county’s lawmakers about county projects, operating budgets or taxes, contact:

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY COUNCIL

(Send one e-mail to all nine at cocouncil@co.st-joseph.in.us)

                   Randall Przybysz                    Kevin Kubsch                         Dale DeVon        

                        1318 Canterbury Dr.                     54720 27th St.                                  52573 Hickory Rd.

                        S.B., IN 46628                        S.B., IN 46635                        Granger, IN 46530

                          282-1000                                 235-9658                                 271-0686

                        Rafael Morton                       Michael Kruk                         Dennis Schafer    

                        325 N Studebaker                    449 S. Phillipa St.                     65300 Maple Rd.  

                        S.B., IN 46628                        S.B., IN 46619                        Lakeville, IN 46536

                          232-7190                                 288-7504                                 784-8285 (local call) 

                        Mark Catanzarite                  Heath Weaver                        Mark Root

                        2022 Oak Park Dr.                        1701 E. Wayne St.                         10737 Chelsea Dr.

                        S.B., IN 46617                        S.B., IN 46615                        Osceola, IN 46561

                          232-9112                                 233-9323                                   674-9125

 

You might also want to contact your County Commissioners (executive branch):

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

 

County Commissioners Mark Dobson, Steve Ross, Bob Kovach

                                          227 W. Jefferson                                  235-9534

                                          South Bend, IN 46601                         pag@co.st-joseph.in.us

 

To comment on City of South Bend spending, option taxes or TIF Districts, contact:

SOUTH BEND COMMON COUNCIL

                        Derek Dieter                          Henry Davis, Jr.                    Thomas LaFountain  

                        4903 Starboard Dr.                  5117 Idlewood Dr.                   1224 Longfellow

                        S.B., IN 46628                        S.B., IN 46619                        S.B., IN 46615

                          243-5657                                 235-5983                                 289-9862

                                ddieter@southbendin.gov                 hdavis@southbendin.gov                 tlafount@southbendin.gov

                        Ann Puzzello                           David Varner                         Oliver Davis        

                        1247 East LaSalle                    1306 Clayton Dr.                     1801 S. Nash St.   

                        S.B., IN 46617                        S.B., IN 46614                        S.B., IN 46613

                          234-1834                                 291-1798                                 288-4523

                                apuzzell@southbendin.gov               dvarner@southbendin.gov                odavis@southbendin.gov

                        Timothy Rouse                       Al “Buddy” Kirsits                Karen White

                        605 N. Cherry Tree Ln.            722 Marquette Ave.                 1912 Malvern Way

                        S.B., IN 46617                        S.B., IN 46617                        S.B., IN 46614

                          233-4049                                 287-6529                                   289-5765

                        trouse@southbendin.gov                 akirsits@southbendin.gov                 kwhite@southbendin.gov

 

Or write a letter to the editor at the Tribune so fellow citizens can hear your concerns:

Voice of the People / South Bend Tribune / 225 W. Colfax Ave. / S.B., IN 46626

Or send by e-mail to vop@sbtinfo.com


Local Elections 2008

                                                                                                                                           Editorial:  Kelly Havens

Are There Any Real Democrats Left in the St. Joe County Democratic Machine?

As I watched the primary elections here in St. Joe County, I found myself asking, “Are there any real Democrats left in the entrenched local Democratic machine?”  Have the local powers, predominantly from the local Democratic Party, become so focused on self-perpetuation of their power that they have forgotten what it means to BE a Democrat?

Lest we forget, Democrats are supposed to be the party of the people, the representatives of the little guys, the common folk.  That’s you and me TAXPAYER, right?  So why is it that when an elected Democrat, County Commissioner Steve Ross repeatedly went after government inefficiency by challenging proposed projects, policies and procedures that might be costing the taxpayers money, the local party put time and money NOT into his re-election but into DISPLACING him in the primary with Dave Thomas, who won the primary and will now go on to run for Commissioner?

I didn’t agree with all of Steve Ross’s stances (e.g., his environmental concerns over the Tondu coal-gasification plant cost us over a hundred new jobs with an average salary of $70,000), but I think It is a sad day when a true advocate of the people gets routed by his own party because he didn’t play their “perpetuate the power” game.

Democratic voters of St. Joe County, please think about it when it comes to your local votes. These people are part of a self-serving entrenched political machine.  They are not real Democrats.

-- -- -- -- -- --                       -- -- -- -- --                      -- -- -- -- --

Candidate Bio

As an ongoing feature of Local Election ’08, we will be running biographies of candidates who put themselves on our mailing list.  Background info and platform supplied by the candidate.  Political activity of record supplied by Citizens for Common Sense.

 


Myer Blatt for Coroner

Myer Blatt moved to Indiana form Illinois in 1990.  Raised and educated in the Chicago area, he has been a Registered Nurse for 23 years, with a specialization in Emergency Room nursing.  He is the proud father of four, with four grandchildren.  Myer’s hometown since 1995 is Mishawaka.

* U.S. Army from 1971-1974

* EMT & Paramedic in Chicago and Jerusalem from 1976-1983

* Registered Nurse – Emergency Specialist – 1985 to present

*Indiana military volunteer -- 2002 to present

* Deployed to post-Katrina Louisiana -- 2005-2006

Myer promises to pursue truth and justice as cost-efficiently as possible. He asks, “If something does not need to happen, then what is the point in spending YOUR hard-earned money paying for it?”

Myer’s campaign committee includes Common Sense board members Kelly Havens & Barry Baumbaugh.


 

 


To contact us:  webmaster@citizensforcommonsense.info

Citizens for Common Sense, Inc.                                                               Carole “Kelly” Havens

P.O. Box 226                                                                                                             Secretary-Treasurer                                                                                                                                                                                   

Granger, IN 46530                                                                                                              (574) 272-7606

Ozzie’s Story

Jerry Osborn is a local sprint & drag racing legend from decades past.  Since then he has lived quietly on South Bend’s southwest side, restoring old cars.  Unfortunately for Ozzie, he happens to be living in the sector of the city that South Bend wants to give to Gates in return for moving out of their former location near the Cove.  As more of Ozzie’s neighborhood got bought up, theft and break-ins became increasingly common and Ozzie called for more police presence.  A few nights later, he heard his dog barking and went outside with a gun. People with flashlights were coming across the yard of the vacant house next door.  Ozzie, nearly 75 and with a newly replaced hip, confronted them with the gun and they fired 13 times, hitting Ozzie in the side.  As bullets ricocheted, Ozzie fired once. Afterward he learned that one of the men, police officers who had not identified themselves, had been grazed by a bullet.  While public reaction was that this had all been a tragic misunderstanding, Ozzie was taken to trial.  A few weeks ago, he was found guilty of attempted battery.  What will happen to Ozzie or his land if they send him to prison? Ozzie is now preparing an appeal.