Lake County is facing a disaster of its own making. By the year 2010 the 2 percent property tax cap will not only apply to residential property but will also be extended to rental properties in 2008 and then to businesses in 2010.
Lake County taxing units overall will lose about $280 million. After decades of promises to cut their budgets, these taxing units will be forced to stop fleecing its citizens and businesses.
This is uniquely a Lake County problem. Porter County is projected to loose $380,000 by 2010 – manageable. The next closest problem is Marion County with a $57 million shortage by 2010. Marion County is twice the size of Lake County and has NO gambling revenues. I am sure they will solve their problems without resorting to confiscatory tax measures.
It is Lake County’s elected officials who are crying, “The end is near, the problem is unsolvable.” Approximately three years ago in one of my early writings, I indicated that the Lake County Commissioners had one member with sufficient fortitude to act like a man and that was Lake County Commissioner Fran DuPey. This was when she stood up and said no to Mayors Duane Dedelow of Hammond, Robert Pastrick of East Chicago, and Scott King of Gary. That resounding no was to the passage of a Lake County income tax. She specifically told them there is no way she was willing to support a new tax until they get their own financial houses in order. Man that is telling it like it is.
Now we are back again with the same situation and thank God we have the same Commissioner standing up to the Mayors, although now it is Tom McDermott, Jr. of Hammond, George Pabey of East Chicago, and Rudy Clay of Gary, and the other elected officials who have changed nothing over the past four years to address putting their financial house in order.
It is only going to be DuPey’s courage that is going to save the citizens of Lake County from confiscatory taxes. The politicians will accomplish this by either dropping the 2 percent cap or finding a bunch of new taxes to burden us. Particularly popular is the idea of fleecing citizens throughout Lake County to pay for the governmental bloat of Hammond, Gary, and East Chicago.
This is twice now that DuPey at critical times has stood up for the citizens of Lake County, even ones not in her district. The sad fact is that in another two years Commissioner DuPey’s term will be over and she has indicated she will not run again. Who is going to stand for the citizens?
Not George Pabey, who just sold East Chicago for $100,000 to keep John Aguilera from running against him. How about an ethical stand from Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr.? The chief investigator from Chicago’s Better Government Association’s, in personal correspondence to me regarding the Cabella’s deal said that “it is at best highly unethical.” This same McDermott also raised his budget every year and insisted on a personal raise. These have been the norms in NWI political circles; Fran DuPey has been the exception. Future politicians elected by the voters of Lake County must be able to govern not to just be pretty boys and girls.
All the citizens of NWI need to vote in less of the Pabey’s and McDermott’s and more of the DuPey’s. If we don’t the downward spiral of Lake County will continue unabated.
The politicians and civic leaders that NWI needs are the ones that can solve problems not create them. The Pabeys, the McDermotts, the Clays, and their unelected cronies have only caused a disaster through their ignorance and mediocraty. Ignorance is defined as when you do not know that you do not know. They have no idea how to get out of their own mess.
The solution is two fold cut spending dramatically and simultaneously increase the assesset value of Lake County. Neither of these programs have they even made the slightest dent in. As a matter of fact it is the opposite. The spending is going up geometrically and the assessed value is droping relative to inflation and the politicians' hunger for more public money to waste.
The only solution is to vote the incumbents out. There is not one good reason for keeping any of them in office.
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