The Porter County auditor's office isn't doing any work that it hasn't been doing in previous years. So why has more been spent in overtime pay so far this year than in all of last year?

Neither the assessor's office nor the treasurer's office has used overtime pay this year.

Overtime pay should be reserved for emergencies, or at least unusual circumstances. That seems not to be the case in the auditor's office.

Reasons for overtime wages have included payroll, tax settlement and tax bills, Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp said.

Those are routine tasks, not unusual circumstances.

"We need more bodies," Kopp said. "We're constantly having more work being dumped in our office."

Porter County Council President Bob Poparad has faith in Kopp's management abilities. "Sometimes you have to spend money to get the work done," he said. "I'm relying on the officeholders to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money."

But is it really wise to spend so much on overtime when the auditor's office has a vacant position? Kopp says that position is for the front counter, which isn't where he needs the extra help. Fine. So shift that position to where he really needs the help.

This case shows the need to implement the recommendations of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform. With department heads appointed, rather than elected, there would be more direct accountability and more leverage to bring changes in the way the auditor's office is run.

The Indiana General Assembly is discussing those recommendations this summer. Hammer out legislation to bring county government all the way from the 19th century into the 21st.

It's either that, or keep supporting an inefficient form of government.