The Indiana Fire Service Hot Shots website.

Governor Mitch Daniels and Chief Justice Randy Shephard, Co-Chair of the Kernan-Shephard commission, report to the news media on the Governor's legislative initiative to streamline government.
Daniels announces 2009 initiatives for reforming local government

INDIANAPOLIS (December 19, 2008) - Governor Mitch Daniels today outlined his proposals for local government reform to be considered by the Indiana General Assembly in 2009. Members of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform, including Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard, co-chair, of the commission, joined the governor for the announcement.


"This is a set of changes that are long overdue in Indiana. We are an
outlier among the states. We have more of almost everything - taxing
units, subdivisions and politicians - than elsewhere. More than we need,
more than taxpayers can get good service for, and certainly more than we should be paying for," said Daniels.

 

The governor recommended that a majority of the 27 recommendations from the Commission report move forward. Among the most significant, Daniels said there should be one county executive, a stronger legislative body for county government, elimination of townships, and reorganization of school district central office operations.

The governor's recommendations below are organized according to the
order of the proposals in the 2007 report issued by the Commission,
co-chaired by Shepard and former Governor Joe Kernan, who was unable to attend the announcement because of inclement weather in northern Indiana. The Commission's recommendation is italicized, followed by the governor's recommendation, then a brief rationale. If the recommendation includes a change to the Commission's original recommendation, the change is also described. Several recommendations have already been implemented and are so noted.

 

Audio of the governor's news conference may be found at this link:
www.in.gov/gov/files/Audio/121908_media_availability.mp3

1.      Establish a single-person elected county executive.  -
Recommended

Rationale: We do not elect three presidents or three mayors, and no
business would hire three CEOs to direct its activities, yet Indiana's
three-member county commissions are hamstrung by just such a structure.
A single elected county executive would provide county government with
a single point of leadership, contact and accountability. Even the Indiana
Association of County Commissioners concedes the 'buck' never really
stops in county government. It's time for that to change.

2.      Establish a single, unified legislative body for county
government.  Expand legislative membership to ensure sufficient
representation for included rural, suburban and urban populations. -
Recommended

Rationale: Indiana is the only state that divides fiscal and other
legislative decision making between its county commissions and councils.
The council approves the county budget but the commission approves
 all other legislation.  This is a recipe for confusion and passing the buck.
The county council should serve as the county legislature, providing
appropriate checks and balances on the single elected county executive
and broad representation. 

3.      Transfer the responsibility for administering the duties of the
county auditor, treasurer, recorder, assessor, surveyor, sheriff and
coroner to the county executive.  Transfer the varied duties of the
clerk of the courts to the county election board and the county
executive.  Establish objective minimum professional qualifications and
standards for certain county administrative functions.  - Recommended
with changes

Changes: The sheriff, clerk and auditor would remain elected.  The
county assessor, county treasurer, county recorder, county surveyor
and county coroner would be appointed by the county executive.  The elected
county auditor would retain the duties associated with handling and
distributing funds to units of government in the county. 

Rationale: The sheriff, clerk and auditor should remain elected offices.
As the chief county law enforcement official, the sheriff should remain
accountable to voters.  Similarly, because the clerk plays a crucial
role in elections, that position should also answer directly to voters.
The auditor should remain elected because this officer handles state and
federal money on behalf of all the local government units in the county.
All of the auditor's property tax billing duties, however, should be
transferred to the county executive. 

 The duties of the other county officers are mainly administrative and
could best be performed by appointed professionals, creating better
accountability. For example, under the current structure, three
separately elected officials (assessor, auditor, treasurer) each have
significant roles to play in the property tax billing process-but none
of them can require the other to carry out their responsibilities. This
dispersion of responsibility frequently contributes to delayed property
tax billing which results in cities, counties and schools paying
millions in borrowing costs.   

 Only 16 states make provision for electing county officers in their
constitution, and none of those elect more than Indiana. It makes little
sense to put so many of these offices in Indiana's Constitution today,
and even less when they are mostly administrative in nature.

4.      Retain a local government role for property tax assessment under
a county assessor who is required to meet professional qualifications
and appointed by the county executive. - Partially Completed and
Recommended

Rationale: 2008's House Enrolled Act 1001, the governor's property tax
plan, transferred the duties of most township assessors to the county
level. In the November general election, voters in 30 of the remaining
43 townships voted to eliminate their township assessors. Although the
state has already made significant progress on this recommendation,
allowing the county executive to appoint the county assessor would
complete the goal of fully enacting this recommendation.      

5.      Create a countywide body to oversee the provision of all public
safety services. 
- - Recommended

Rationale: There are currently more than 1,150 local government police
and fire departments providing public safety services across the state.
This results in a costly, complex and duplicative system that has the
potential to affect citizen access to critical services when minutes
matter. While the state has provided ways for local governments to
collaborate on fire protection, less than 80 of these arrangements have
been made in the past 27 years. It is time to require a countywide
planning process to ensure that every citizen has access to the best
public safety services available and that resources are used in the best
way to provide those services.

6.      Consolidate emergency public safety dispatch by county or
multi-county region.  Require that new, local emergency communications
systems be compatible with the Project Hoosier SAFE-T statewide 800 MHz
communications system. - Done

How accomplished: HEA 1204 requires each county to have no more than two
public safety answering points (PSAPs) by January 1, 2015. This will
provide consolidated, effective and efficient public safety dispatch in
each county.

7.      Transfer the responsibility for all funding of the state's trial
court system to the state including public defenders and probation. -
Recommended with changes

Rationale:  Once the state's fiscal circumstances improve, it would make
sense for the state to assume the costs of the trial court system over a
period of years, including probation officers and public defenders.
Indiana's courts could operate more efficiently and fairly, ensuring
that all citizens have the same access to justice.  A transition period
would be necessary to allow time for currently serving judges to
complete their terms in office.

8.      Move the funding of child welfare from counties to the state. -
Done

How accomplished: HEA 1001 provides that in 2009 the state will begin
paying the full costs of child welfare, expenses formerly paid for
almost exclusively by property taxes.

9.      Transfer the responsibility for administering the duties of
township government for assessment, poor relief, fire protection,
emergency medical services, cemeteries and any other remaining
responsibilities to the county executive.  Establish a countywide poor
relief levy. - Recommended

Rationale:  Township government is an outdated legacy of the 19th
century.  Today, 31 states operate without township government and only
eight have more than Indiana's 1,008. Many townships are just too small,
in terms of area, assessed value and population, to provide
cost-effective public services. Many townships spend more on
administrative expenses than they do on critical services such as poor
relief. For example, the aggregate administrative cost in one county was
$1.33 for every dollar of direct assistance. The legislation should
create a county poor relief transition planning body with broad
bipartisan representation, including elected township and county
officials, human services providers, and others to ensure a smooth
transition to a countywide system.

Local fire departments, volunteer and full-time, would continue and
would report to the county executive rather than township trustees.
Resource decisions would be made at the county level based on
recommendations from the public safety boards that would be created
by recommendation #5.

Transferring township duties to the county would allow for more
efficient planning, provide a broader tax base for funding, and reduce
the overall complexity of Indiana's current system of local government.


10.  Transfer the responsibilities of the township small claims courts
in Marion County to superior courts. - Recommended

Rationale: The only remaining township small claims courts are located
in Marion County. These courts, judges and constables, should be
integrated into the Marion Superior Court, with provision for court
locations dispersed through the county.

11.  Reorganize school districts to achieve a minimum student population
of 2,000.  Establish state standards and a county-based planning process
similar to that established in 1959 legislation. - Recommended with
changes

Changes: School districts with less than 1,000 students should combine
their district central office operations with another school district
unless they are already a countywide district. After central office
reorganization, no high schools may be closed for the next five years.

Rationale: This proposal is solely aimed at reducing the number of
school corporations in Indiana, not the number of schools in our state.
Education experts agree that school districts of less than 1,000
students are not able to provide the educational opportunities necessary
for student success in the 21st Century.  In Indiana, small corporations
offer far fewer advanced placement courses, foreign languages and
advanced math/science courses than corporations with more than 1,000
students.

12.  Require that school corporation bonds be approved by the fiscal
body of the municipal or county government containing the greatest
proportion of assessed value in the school district. - Not recommended
Rationale: HEA 1001 required a public referendum before schools could
move forward with major capital projects. This provides the necessary
oversight for school projects.

13.  Prompt joint purchasing by schools. - Recommended

Rationale: Indiana schools participate in shared purchasing and services
arrangements but there is more to be done to capi