Oh, How The Mayors and Lake County Government Have Lied!!!

The Post-Tribune came out with an article today (Sunday, 10/14/07) that is misleading and continues the big city mayor's political attacks on their own school system.  The article, School Spending Tops Tax Increases, implies that the property tax "increase" problem lies with the school system's spending being out of control and without any accountability.  The mayors will frequently tell you, the citizens of Lake County, that every time they reduce their spending (which, by the way, never actually happens) the property taxes go up anyway because of the school systems and their lack of concern for the citizens.  The sad part is rather than tell the whole truth the newspapers in NWI give half truths to support these thieves in the night, i.e. the mayors.

The newspapers, apparently, would rather promote flimflam than good government.  They know who butters their bread.  Remember tribal politics does not end at the media's door.  The media in NWI, mainly the newspapers, are part and parcel of the tribe.  If the newspapers were truly independent from the political sludge of NWI politics, tribal politics would be far less possible.

As opposed to the "objective information" that the above article tries to "sell", school districts until 2006 have reduced their overall property tax burden, while the cities have (always) kept increasing.  Only after 2007 will the school districts actually increase, while the cities property tax take has increased continuously, always, year after year after year after year.

The mayors of the three largest cities in Lake County have been shoveling outlandish lies to the citizens of their own cities and to the citizens of Lake County.  Not only that, but the Lake County Government Complex sitting in Crown Point, Indiana has (tacity if not overtly) colluded with the thieves of northern Lake County (like one big happy "family" of thieves in their den-o-thieves treehouse).

Not surprising the worst liar and flimflam man is Tom McDermott, Jr. of Hammond. He is closely followed by the new/old East Chicago Mayor Pabey and then Lake County Government led by the notorious crook former Lake County Council President Willie A. Smith.  One cannot blame Gary Mayor Rudy Clay yet, he is too new at the job.  But the former mayor, Mr. Scott "I can't support my family on a meager $200K a year" King, who I always believed (and said) was a thief (like his good friend McDermott), was also a big fat liar.

What have they been lying about?  They have been lying about what they have been doing with the property tax burden of their cities and they have been putting the blame on everyone else, including their school districts, except their own greed.

This goes for Lake County Government as well.  They have been lying to us by presenting irrelevant details of reductions in spotty areas while the overall property tax burden for their own citizens and for Lake County has continued to spin out of control.

The following file is the official data from The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.  It presents a five/six year comparison of the approved tax levy not the "make believe" one that "leaves" Lake County to be approved downstate. 

The file (PropertyTax6YearOverviewCountyUnits.xls), is an Excel file from the State Government.  It only includes Lake and Porter Counties for comparison.  Anyone can go on the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance web site and get the complete file for all the State Counties.  In Lake County only five years are presented because when this was put together 2007 amounts were not available (big surprise).  But, for the five years available one can certainly see the trend and the lies that have been told.

The five years covered by this State Government document shows that the amount of money raised through property tax has risen astronomically.