Those mean old taxpayers just don't understand that we need their money to do good things for them. But if that's what they want, sniffle, sniffle, well, all right, guess we won't fight it. Boy are they gonna miss us when we're gone:
State legislators didn't waste much time this year before deciding to put Indiana's property tax caps on the November ballot.
And groups opposed to the caps say they probably won't waste much time — or money — trying to persuade Hoosiers to vote against amending the constitution to forever limit property owners' tax burdens to 1 percent of the assessed value of a house, 2 percent for farms and rentals, and 3 percent for businesses.
Mishawaka Mayor Jeff Rea spoke to legislative committees nine times in recent years on behalf of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns to tell legislators how the caps will hurt public safety and other government services.
[. . .]
I think there's virtually nothing that is going to stop it from being in the constitution," he said. "It's a freight train that isn't going to stop, so we'll have to make the proper adjustments."
[. . .]
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Indiana Farm Bureau oppose the caps because they stick businesses and farms with higher tax rates than what homeowners will face.
But neither organization plans to embark on a media campaign prior to Election Day, representatives said.
Boo hoo, boo hoo. So, OK, 60 or 70 percent of Hoosiers favor the tax caps. Taxpayers wanting to save money -- big deal. But how are they going to be persuaded to change their minds if nobody is willing to make the case? This is an opportunity for us to have a statewide debate on what services Hoosiers really want and what they're willing to pay for. If that's the way all these anti-tax cap people are going to be now, let's hear no more whining later about the hardships the caps might cause.
