Alas, TA…since we don't have real statesmen who actually care about We the Pissed Upon, we NEED the referendum.

Indeed, I wish we had this power guaranteed in our Constitution.

We all know that the Colt's Playground would never have been built if We the Scorned had the opportunity to vote upon it.

In Marion County, professional appraisers reviewed the property records, and for the first time in history, 2009-pay-2010 tax bills are on time and sent out by one unified county assessor.

Every time somone refinances or gets a new mortgage, the state requires a form to be filed, which lists the property value. Typically, that's via certified appraisal or comparable sales, or both.

It's not perfect, but it is so far ahead of where we were. Unfortunately, home values are down, but with property tax caps on the immediate horizon, that could be short-term good news on the tax front….bad news on the home value front.

That loud boom you heard last year was the ground swallowing up nine inefficient and inept township asssessors, in favor of a county-wide system.

Your turn, Becky…

Perverse interests are those in which a single party derives benefit without assuming risk (governmental bloat).

TA makes some very good points. But let's remember that township government is ~2% of all local government statewide. Is township government the measurable waste-line of excess?

An available, wider view of the problem, reveals that things have been DLG F'd up for too long. Or is the state somehow holy? Let's see… CAPS… Commission Assessed Property Seizure…?

For two yeas, these folks have boosted important issues, like excess school funding, to the referenda plate. It's gutless. The school funding crisis, for instance, as well as the coming crisis for all units of local government, is a direct result, in large part, of the legislature's failure to adequately address court-mandated changes in the property tax system. Until it was too late.

The Indiana legislature is like a rural fire department where I once lived. They boasted that they'd saved more home foundations than any other department around.

We don't need township government at all. It's a wasteful layer of government. Ad I'm getting tired of legislators who duck tough issues. Any township fix that isn't somewhat uniform will; be a patchwork quilt of even more ineffective and inept government. That's how we got Center Township's excess property situation–someone went on a guying spree with public dollars, foolishly. They were given a thumbs-up to do so by—taa daa!—a township board that defines lapdog.

Lastly, Abdul, that whole double-dating reference was just, well…creepy. On the same day a Congressman talks about arguing in the nude with Rahm Emmanuel. Stop. Please.