GRIFFITH | Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenberg Jr. found himself on the hot seat again at a forum Thursday night on streamlining government that was sponsored by MySmartgov.org and the Griffith Town Council.
The forum featured Marilyn Schultz, executive director of the bipartisan business backed group, and Rick Ryfa, Griffith Town Council president. The pair urged those attending the educational session to vote in favor of Tuesday's referendum, which asks whether assessing duties should be transferred to the county assessor.
Voters in six Lake County townships will determine whether those township offices are abolished and assessment duties are taken over by the Lake County assessor.
Blumenberg ran afoul of MySmartgov.org after mailing a letter to taxpayers on Oct. 10 campaigning to keep his job. The group has asked state auditors to investigate whether the he spent taxpayer dollars on postage.
He was one of several township assessors attending the forum at Griffith High School who oppose the move to consolidate township offices. Ross Township Assessor Randall Guernsey tried to debate the issues at the meeting, but was told by Griffith Town Council member George Jerome that the forum wasn't the place.
Blumenberg responded to several questions by Griffith and Gary residents about their property tax assessments, repeatedly citing MySmartgov.org's connection to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and "major corporations in Lake County." He also blamed major corporations for higher property taxes.
"Major corporations such as the steel mills have reduced their taxes substantially," he said, citing bills passed by the Indiana Legislature. "There's been a massive shift in the tax burden from corporations to individuals."
"The Indiana Legislature established the townships," Blumenberg said. "We just run for office and do our jobs."
Schultz and audience members refuted Blumenberg's claims.
"The Legislature established those townships in 1851," Schultz said. "We're not questioning the integrity of any assessor. We believe we don't need 1,008 assessing districts in Indiana. We need one boss in each county. We need government that works for the 21st century."
Russ Harden, of Griffith, said, "For years, Lake County overtaxed big corporations like the steel mills."
In addition, the state's inventory tax again hit businesses, the retired steelworker said.
After all that taxing, "Lake County government got way overblown," Harden said. "We need to reduce Lake County government. We have way too much government."
The township assessors are part of those "layers of government" that MySmartgov.org seeks to eliminate, Schultz and Ryfa said. What the Town Council and the organization back are reform recommendations made by the Kernan-Shepard Commission.
In the spring of 2007, Gov. Mitch Daniels asked a group of leaders from across the state to study the issue. The Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform, led by former Gov. Joe Kernan and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard, issued a report in December that made 27 specific recommendations for streamlining local government.
One recommendation was to shift assessing duties from townships to counties. On July 1, the Indiana General Assembly did just that, moving property assessments in 965 of the state's 1,008 townships to county government. However, lawmakers chose to let voters in the state's 43 largest townships decide the issue for themselves in a referendum.
"The referendum allows us to have a voice," Schultz told more than 100 people attending the forum.
"We don't have enough money in local government to continue the current budgets," she said.
"We can either consolidate and cooperate or we will lose services. We either pay for services or layers of government."
