Published: March 22, 2008 10:20 pm      

Public Eye - Sunday, March 23, 2008

Reagan joins GOP pantheon

Always interesting reading, the Howard County Republican newsletter’s latest issue showed party support firmly behind incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Burton going into a contested May 6 primary with Indianapolis physician John McGoff.

The party’s central committee endorsed Burton in the newsletter, which featured cover pictures of Burton’s family and of the congressman meeting with former President Ronald Reagan aboard Air Force One.

Speaking of Reagan, anyone looking forward to the local Republicans’ annual Lincoln Day Dinner should be advised: The name of the dinner has been changed to the “Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner.” We suspect there’s support outside Howard County as well for this latest attempt to glorify the president who won the Cold War and sold arms to the Iranians.

Waiting in the wings

During her first presidential campaign stop in Indiana, Democrat Hillary Clinton was asked repeatedly about Sen. Evan Bayh being selected as her running mate.

“I have a real high opinion of him,” Clinton said of Bayh. The two serve together on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan together last year.

Clinton said it would be irresponsible to select a running mate until she has the nomination.

“This is the first time I’ve been associated with anything dealing with vice,” Bayh quipped to laughter from those in attendance.

Clinton also said that she was told the best road to success in Indiana was to follow the road that Bayh maps out.

For his part, Bayh complimented Clinton at every opportunity in Anderson.

“Hillary Clinton has the experience to bring our economy back,” he said in introducing her in this community that has lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs. “She has the steel in her spine to stand up for what is right.”

Pay me now or pay me later

At the monthly meeting of the Miami County Council last week, State Sen. Tom Weatherwax said the tax relief bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly would be a free ride for anyone.

He noted that to finance the reduction of property tax bills the state’s sales tax is increasing from 6 to 7 cents starting on April 1.

Weatherwax also said county officials would probably have to implement a Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) to make up for lost revenues that could result in a cut in services of layoffs.

Miami County will lose $626,000 in revenues in 2009 and a projected $1.1 million in 2010. Weatherwax said a one percent LOIT would generate $1.3 million in 2009 and $1.4 million in 2010 for county government.

Still waiting on tax rates, bills

Howard County residents already have their 2008 property assessments, but there’s a possibility property tax bills will go out late this year, Howard County Treasurer Martha Lake said last week.

Anyone anxious to get their tax bill can blame all of the changes on tax calculations mandated by the Indiana General Assembly.

County officials are still trying to get the numbers together needed to set the tax rates, specifically the “net assessed valuation” of each local taxing unit.

That’s the number calculated by taking all of the credits and deductions off the gross assessed value of each property. Until the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance gets those numbers from the county auditor, they can’t set tax rates. Since property taxes are calculated by multiplying the net assessed value by the tax rate, tax bills can’t be calculated without both numbers.

Lake said preliminary estimates have Howard County tax bills going out in June or early July, rather than the normal May 10 date.

Job not finished until paperwork is done

In February the Howard County Election Board voted to send letters to several candidates who failed to file the proper campaign finance reports from the 2007 municipal election.

Clerk Mona Myers said if a campaign had funds, a report needed to be filed.

Myers said on Monday all the paperwork has been filed.

“Once their names were in the press, they filed the necessary paperwork,” she said.