A push for change

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce did a poll and, no big shock, found a lot of unhappy Hoosiers:

Indiana has the highest number of separately elected county officials in the country, all with separate taxing authority, the Chamber said, and over 76 percent said they favor a statewide overhaul of local governments if it means greater efficiency and lower property taxes.

Some 11 percent of those polled opposed an overhaul, while 13 percent were uncertain.

It's easy to predict that these results will be used to make a new push for consolidating local governments. But officials should be careful not to over-convince themelves of Hoosier sentiment for change. People are so upset over property taxes that they'll say yes to about anything right now if it is coupled with the prospect of relief. And promises of "lower property taxes" ought to be thought about very carefully.