By Aleasha Sandley, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
District 35
Main goals
The Indiana House of Representatives’ Republican incumbent Jack Lutz and Democratic opponent Lee Ann Mengelt both are interested in making Indiana a leader in green technology and renewable resources, which they say will bring jobs and energy independence for the state.
“We have the resources to become an energy source for the nation,” Lutz said.
Mengelt preferred to instill mandates to utility companies to use at least 10 percent green technology, which she said would create jobs.
However, the candidates’ main issues differ from there. In keeping with the House Republicans’ goals for the 2009 legislative session, Lutz said he would like to focus on taxpayer protection for homeowners and businesses, incentives to attract higher-paying jobs and support for continuing education in the form of scholarships to students who graduate with a B average.
Mengelt offered another idea for helping with education: freezing the cost of college at the cost a student incurs during his or her freshman year.
Mengelt, who is from Elwood and now lives in Delaware County, has spent 30 years in health care and wants to make it a priority that more Hoosiers have access to health care, especially during an economic downturn.
“As we continue to lose more jobs in the area, we have more and more people without health care,” she said.
Where they differ
Both Lutz and Mengelt were in favor of a constitutional amendment to make this year’s 1 percent homeowner property tax cap permanent, but they differed what the state’s next move should be.
Mengelt wanted to see what the repercussions of the caps would be for local governments and schools, which will suffer funding shortfalls in the next two years. She also wanted a plan in place to replace the lost funds.
Lutz wanted to focus more on consistency in assessing properties to make the property tax system more fair.
When asked about mass transit opportunities between Madison County and Indianapolis, Mengelt said the state should pursue federal funding to match its efforts to create a train system that should reach all the way into Delaware County.
Lutz, who helped promote the growth of the Interstate 69 corridor that stretches through the county, said the county needed jobs within and not worry about providing transit to jobs in Indianapolis.
“I think those dollars could be spent right here in economic development,” Lutz said. “We need those jobs right here in east central Indiana.”
District 36
Main goals
Both Democratic incumbent Terri Austin and Republican challenger Frank Burrows stressed jobs and education as the most important issues facing the 2009 legislature. Burrows mentioned Hope Scholarships for college students, part of the House Republicans’ 2009 plan, while Austin called for teamwork to bring jobs to the county.
“I believe it’s time we had a countywide economic development plan,” Austin said. “We can’t be the best unless we’re working with one another.”
Libertarian challenger Greg Noland’s concerns for the next legislative session lie in reducing the cost of government.
“I’ve been concerned in recent years at the size and the cost of government at all levels,” Noland said. “We must turn around the growth in our state bureaucracy.”
Noland also proposed eliminating property taxes altogether, a move he said could be made possible by reducing the size and cost of government bureaucracy.
Where they differ
While high-paying jobs are sought after in the community, Burrows said the county could use any jobs at this point.
“(The people of Madison County) literally don’t have jobs,” he said. “They don’t want to be on welfare. We have to get down to the basics of getting jobs for the people of Madison County.”
Austin stressed her countywide economic development plan in the search for jobs, saying the county needed to educate its work force to attract better jobs and focus on those 25-55 years old who might have been laid off or out of work and need to support their families.
“We have a lot of adults that are going to be left out of the loop,” she said.
While Noland agreed a skilled work force and infrastructure was important in attracting jobs, he said the government should stay out of business and attracting jobs, instead focusing on keeping taxes low, which ultimately would cause business to locate in the area.
“Everyone has to realize that businesses make decisions on the economy,” Noland said. “We keep our taxes low, these businesses will come.”
District 37
Main goals
In Republican challenger Kelly Gaskill’s experience as a township assessor, she has seen firsthand the effects of property taxes and, if elected to the House, would try to get them eliminated.
“I long for the day when we can own our homes instead of rent them from the government,” she said.
Democratic incumbent Scott Reske also called for the elimination of property taxes, but also focused on economic development and jobs in the county, saying the legislature should focus on the area’s strengths, like Interstate 69 and Hoosier Park.
Gaskill said jobs and property taxes go hand in hand; by cutting property taxes, the government can help attract more jobs to the state.
“If you eliminate property taxes, you’re creating a jobs bill,” she said.
Libertarian challenger Robert Jozwiak said the problem with the government is the parties that run it, proposing term limits on the Democratic and Republican parties.
“(Government) is basically top down instead of bottom up,” Jozwiak said. “The problem we have today are the Republican and Democratic political parties.”
Where they differ
None of the candidates agreed with Indiana’s property tax structure as it stands now; however, all offered their own alternatives.
Reske, who said he was one of the first to advocate removal of property taxes from Indiana’s constitution, preferred a patchwork solution, where each county could decide the best tax system to support itself, whether it was property taxes, incomes taxes or another method. He said it would help counties compete for economic development and think of more innovative funding solutions.
Gaskill said capping property taxes was a good start and looks toward eliminating them entirely, drawing on her expertise as an assessor in understanding home trending processes.
Jozwiak was glad to see property taxes lowered, but called out legislators on raising other taxes, like the wheel tax and sales tax, at the same time to make up for the losses.
“We all know what local representatives raised our taxes,” he said. “I’m willing to go get our money back.”
