The Herald Bulletin
Boone Township
Name: Teresa Hiatt
Age: 51
Occupation: Not available
Years in office: 16
Population served: 761
Salary: $955
Parcels: 801
“With my constituents, I know who they are. I know their needs. I can be right there whereas someone from the county, it’s less convenient for my constituents.”
Monroe Township
Name: Annamarie Ryan
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired from Madison County Auditor office
Years in office: 6
Population served: 9,944
Salary: $10,030
Parcels: 9,377
“They’re all coming in here saying, ‘Annamarie, we don’t want someone from Anderson or Indianapolis coming in assessing our homes. We want someone local.’”
Van Buren Township
Name: Harvey (Bud) Stitt
Age: 68
Occupation: Not available
Years in office: 13
Population served: 2,046
Salary: $1,672
Parcels: 1,996
Duck Creek Township
Name: Jo Lynn Hussey
Age: 54
Occupation: Not available
Years in office: 5
Population served: 621
Salary: $955
Parcels: 682
Pipe Creek Township
Name: Wendy Kerr
Age: 36
Occupation: Not available
Years in office: 1
Population served: 13,168
Salary: $18,628
Parcels: 11,974
Jackson Township
Name: Karen Lumpkin
Age: 64
Occupation: Township trustee, manager of family farm
Years in office: 6
Population: 1,948 (2006 est.)
Salary: $1,311
Parcels: 1,634
“I guess I’m happy it went away. When I took the position six years ago, it was a minimal job and I did it as more of a public service job. It has become almost a nightmare keeping up with what the state wants.”
Lafayette Township
Name: Sue Morgan
Age: 78
Occupation: Farming
Years in office: 12
Population: 5,398 (2006 est.)
Salary: $9,069
Parcels: 4,692
“I hate losing the personal contacts. They want to privatize everything. They are taking the local government away from the people.”
Richland Township
Name: Richard Cleaver
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired from General Motors
Years in office: 26 years
Population: 5,133 (2006 est.);
Salary: $4,502
Parcels: 3,673
“The county assessing office will do a good job. That won’t be a problem.”
Union Township
Name: Linda Geiger
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired
Years in office: 2, with 16 years previously
Population served (2006 est.): 9,006
Salary: $8,596
Parcels: 5,674
“By living here in the township, I have known a lot of these people for years and years. They probably won’t get the same personal service.”
Anderson Township
Name: Patricia Davis
Age: 58
Occupation: Anderson Township Assessor
Years in office: 2 years
Population served (2006 est.): 57,651
Salary: $46,000
Parcels: 40,062
“It will absolutely not save any money. Everybody that is being replaced, the assessor will have to hire more people to do that work. The county’s pretty big. It’s not going to save any money.”
Green Township
Name: Greg Valentine
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired from Delphi Automotive, township trustee, homestead farmer.
Years in office: 8 years
Population served: 4,017 (2006 est.)
Salary: $2,150
Parcels: 4,700
“The taxpayers have lost the only ally they had in their locale. As of July 1, you’ve lost the only asset you had as far as a question about a pole barn, a garage or why you were assessed a certain way.”
Fall Creek Township
Name: Kelly Gaskill
Age: 42
Occupation: Former Guide employee, works part-time for husband’s insurance agency.
Years in office: 2
Population: 13,362 (2006 est.)
Salary: $10,030
Parcels: 7,570
“You know, maybe this is a good first step. I would love to see property taxes eliminated completely. It’s one of those touchy issues.”
Adams Township
Name: Melinda Padgett
Age: 54
Occupation: Former director of Advocacy Services for the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office.
Years in office: 14
Population: 3,831 (2006 est.)
Salary: $2,150
Parcels: 3,276
“It’s really sad for the people in the community. Nobody really cares about their area. It was a big job with little pay, but I don’t think consolidating into the county is the answer.”
Stony Creek Township
Name: Deena Smith
Age: 42
Occupation: Administrator for Pendleton Town Court
Years in service: 4
Population: 3,689 (2006 est.)
Salaries: $2,150
Parcels: 2,925
“I think the county assessors are going to be extremely overworked and underpaid.”
