Published: January 08, 2008 05:44 pm            

Paul Wyman: Seize the moment; reform is possible

Tell legislators we’re ready for change

The new year has brought each of us an opportunity like we have not had in recent years – the opportunity to affect a positive change on your tax bills in 2008. With the new legislative session starting, now is the time for each of us to take personal action.

I will take you back to last spring when we all received our shocking tax bills. Twenty, 30 even 60 percent increases. Remember the unbelievable shift from commercial-personal property onto the backs of homeowners? Do you recall the anxiety, frustration and outright fury we all felt? Remember, at that moment, we were ready to do battle, and the Kokomo Tea Party was under way? We, like most things over time, become less angry and settle back into our ways. After all, we still have our iPods. Most of us got what we wanted for Christmas. Do we really have any say in what really happens when it comes to property taxes?

Let’s do each other a favor and turn the iPods off for a moment, put away the Christmas gifts temporarily and believe for just one moment that your voice can and will be heard at the Statehouse over the next 30 days. If there is ever a time that we will see true property tax reform, it is this legislative session. The stars and moon are aligned for such action. Property tax bills finally hit a level that is unacceptable, and this is an election year. Minor tweaking or a temporary fix should be deemed unacceptable. Real reform is possible and necessary.

OK, let’s not mince words here. Our property tax system is broken. The only way it will get fixed is for us to give our legislators the political courage to do so. That’s right – political courage. By us calling, e-mailing and visiting with them, let them know under no circumstances will we accept anything less than meaningful reform. We must tell them that we are ready for the tough, hard decisions that need to be made. We are ready to support them over special interest groups, and we are ready to take back our government from the political gamesmanship that has come to be commonplace.

Your local government took the first step in helping solve the property tax crisis this past fall. We began to shift some of the business tax breaks that were dumped onto residential property over to income in a way that did not grow government. True dollar-for-dollar relief. As a result, homesteaders will see on average a 20 percent tax break on their spring bills in 2008.

Let’s face it: Residential property owners unfairly took the lion’s share of the property tax increase this last go-around. We have begun the process to fix it but need your property tax voice to finish it. I personally ask each of you to contact state Reps. Buck, Herrell and Turner, along with Sens. Drozda and Hershman, to let them know we will support them in such action. True reform is a must, and it is the only end goal we will accept. We did our part locally; now is the time for the state to bring home the winning touchdown. I believe all of us, working together to solve the problem, is the right answer.

I realize true reform means someone’s ox gets gored. That is a simple fact of the broken system we have. This is where the true challenge lies. The special interest groups will work awfully hard to protect their ox at your expense. I would argue that we can do better than the special interest groups that work against property owners. As citizens who pay the tax bills every six months, just maybe this time we should be the ones listened to.

As always, thanks for reading. Please contact your legislators and help them know you support true reform. You can do so at www.in.gov. The best new year’s resolution we can all make is to work together to solve the problem.

Happy New Year to you and your family. If you have any comments you would like to share with me, please e-mail directly at pwyman8@aol.com. I enjoy hearing from you.

Paul Wyman is a Howard County councilman and owner of The Wyman Group real-estate agency.

        

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