Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman's legislative agenda for local government reform should have been introduced earlier, for more thorough public discussion than this short session allows. However, there are elements of her plan that make sense.
Skillman released her local government reform recommendations last week, a little more than four years since the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform issued the Kernan-Shepard report that has become a blueprint for reform advocates.
Some of Skillman's proposed reforms seem inspired by some degree by that report, but not to the degree we would like.
Even so, some of her recommendations make sense.
To help local governments deal with tight budgets, she proposes allowing referendums to let voters determine whether to raise taxes. Why not? That's already required for major capital outlays like new schools, so giving the voters a choice on other tax increase issues follows the same principal. If they want to pay more for their government -- if the government officials can prove the need for more taxes and the consequences of not raising them --let them have that choice.
Skillman also proposes streamlining township government by either eliminating the township boards or aligning the township governance with the three county commissioner districts. Better yet, do both.
The township boards are too expensive, in some cases, and mostly are unnecessary. Require county councils to review township budgets, and the primary responsibility of township boards is gone.
Aligning townships with the three county commissioner districts would streamline government by requiring all the townships in each district to have a single administration. So why not just hand over those requirements to the commissioners?
The township reforms Skillman proposes whittle away at township government rather than abolishing it completely as the Kernan-Shepard report proposes. Still, they are steps in the right direction.
The idea of giving voters the power to opt for higher taxes makes sense, too. They're adults; let them decide for themselves.
These elements of Skillman's recommendations, at least, are worth considering by the Indiana General Assembly this year.