I want to expand upon the points made by Wednesday's editorial in the Daily Journal, first by saying, I too think House Bill 1730 is a bad idea for Indiana. The bill, supported by all 52 House Democrats, would allow public building projects costing more than $2 million to avoid the taxpayer referenda and petition-remonstrance requirements simply by requiring "green technology" be used. Voter referenda for major construction projects costing more than $10 million were included in the landmark "Cut Now/Cap Forever" property tax legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2008. The legislation ensured referenda protection and gave property tax payers the opportunity to have a voice in future projects. Under the bill, any project for the construction, repair, alteration or retrofitting of a public building or structure would be exempt from the referenda requirement, or for smaller projects, the voter petition process that was enacted in 1995, provided the project is built to nationally recognized energy efficiency standards. Any school, city or county may remove all tax payer input by simply requiring energy efficient lights or energy efficient means of construction. The irony is, all of these means costs more than current building standards. So construction costs go up and taxpayer input go out. While I support the inclusion of long-term efficiency standards for public projects, and the incentives for state and local governments to include them, to remove the key taxpayer referenda protection is nothing more than a rip-off and a bypass for House Democrats to avoid the real issue of property tax caps.We need to keep our promise to Hoosiers and pass the constitutional property tax caps. In order to emphasize that point, we have displayed a running clock in the Statehouse hallway to show all Hoosiers how much time the Speaker has to allow the vote on property tax caps.
|
