GOSHEN -- County commissioners irked by state leaders' thinking that local governments are to blame for the property tax quandary are getting some backup from state lawmakers.
Commissioners from seven northern Indiana counties, including Elkhart and St. Joseph, formally endorsed a joint statement Friday outlining steps they hope the state will take to ease the tax strain many communities are experiencing.
The meeting included about a dozen county commissioners and three state legislators. One of the elected state officials, Rep. Jackie Walorski, said she will help broker a meeting between the local politicians and Gov. Mitch Daniels.
"I think this is going to be such a freight train in January (when the General Assembly session resumes) that we're not going to get anything else done until we deal with this issue," said Walorski, R-Lakeville.
About 10,000 residents of her district, mostly from Elkhart County, have signed petitions calling for long-term property tax reform, Walorski said.
In the meantime, though, Commissioner Steve Ross of St. Joseph County said the problem requires some immediate fixes from the Legislature.
"We are looking at a very short-term crisis coming down the road for us," he told Walorski and state Rep. Nancy Dembowski and Sen. Ed Charbonneau. "You and the Legislature need to fix what you've done to us."
The commissioners, who have been collaborating for several weeks, have taken issue with the idea among some state officials that overspending, bureaucratic local governments are largely to blame for high property taxes.
They've countered that state-regulated expenses such as schools, welfare and juvenile services are at fault and should be funded by statewide increases in income or sales taxes.
Walorski and Dembowski, D-Knox, said they agreed that local governments didn't create the property tax dilemma but should play a role in solving it.
"The actions that you're taking give us the feedback we need to make decisions," said Dembowski, a former mayor and county councilwoman who empathized with the commissioners' frustration.
Charbonneau, who entered office about a month ago, thanked local officials for "delivering a message" but didn't take a definitive stand on what they proposed. The Republican from Valparaiso said everyone understands that the property tax system needs reform and that governments must study all their expenses as well as the best ways to pay for them.
Daniels has appointed a panel to look into how local governments can operate more efficiently.
The panel has no representatives from local government -- a decision that the commissioners object to in their statement.
But the statement anticipates possible recommendations from that panel, encouraging the Legislature to give local governments ample flexibility to restructure or streamline themselves.
Including that provision in the statement worried St. Joseph County's Ross, who in the end chose not to sign the document because voters he talked to expressed reservations about reorganizing local governments or mistrust of the state's ability to look out for their interests.
"Ultimately, I do agree with the document," he said. "There was a lot of concern that this document could be used in an altogether different method than we had hoped for."
Another St. Joseph County commissioner, Mark Dobson, did not attend Friday's meeting but has indicated his support for the statement.
Commissioners from Elkhart, LaGrange, Marshall, Steuben and Noble counties also signed off on it.
"This is not us against the governor," said Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder, who wrote the statement. "This is not us against our legislators."
Walorski said she hopes more counties and state lawmakers line up behind the statement. She was disappointed that more legislators didn't attend the meeting but said the basic message that commissioners are sending is similar to what many state lawmakers are contemplating.
But it's unclear what course the Legislature's leaders will propose, Walorski said.
"I've not been there long," Dembowski said, "but I've learned not to predict what the General Assembly's going to do."