Indiana’s State Government is reporting a $1.4 billion surplus. For the year, revenues exceeded spending by $321 million. That’s good news as far as it goes, but how much of this comes from balancing the state budget on the backs of local government? It’s easier to balance your budget if you can make others pay the costs you incur. (See, e.g., juvenile detention.)
I agree that shell games make the bottom line look great and hide realities. But I’ll profess my ignorance here. Is juvenile detention a state matter or a local matter? I’m thinking of my home county, Hamilton, and the large juvenile detention center. It’s a county facility, built largely with county bond money (although I’m sure there were state and even federal dollars poured into it), and it is staffed by county employees.
Is this really an example of a state cost being shifted? Just asking.
Might not be in Hamilton if they have their own detention center. That’s an exception, I think. Normally what happens is that a state court judge sentences a juvenile and that juvenile is then frequently detained in a state facility, but the county bears the cost of incarceration. By contrast, if an adult is sentenced to a state facility (a D.O.C. run prison); the state picks up the tab.
There might be some semantics to be dealt with here as well. Should judges be considered state officials or county officials? Legally, they are state officials. But, they are elected within districts that are usually coterminous with county lines.
state auditor Tim Berry is a money launderer- and worse- i’ve known him for years in ftw politics- he happily has ignored illegal gambling/racketeering proceeds paid into the tax stream- and cheerfully accepted their ill-gotten gains, unquestioningly-
no “sorry i cant accept this check- you have cherrymasters- this might be illegal gambling proceeds.”
no “isnt your business cited by the excise for “racketeering?- we dont accept money from racketeers”
no ” have you declared all your income( including illegal racketeering tax evasion)”
such as al capone…
tim berry is either ignorant( he sure is stupid)-due to noe knowing about illegal racketeering/tax evasion in allen county as treasurer/ state treasurer/auditor.
or hes incompetent- doesnt know or know how to proceed when confronted with illegally derived tax paymnets.
or he’s crooked- corrupt- for turning a blind eye.
whatever the case may be- he should be sent to jail, just like enrong, mortgage scamers, and other white collar criminals.
case made- case closed.
Maybe this is the bigger problem, Doug, that the roles of state and local governments are too blurred and indistinct. No doubt by design, because it’s hard to have clear accountability where there are clear and distinct roles.
Reminds me of one of the biggest challenges I recall as a legislative drafter. Legislators would ask you to consult with constituents or lobbyists who had an idea for legislation. Sometimes they would have already drafted their idea of the legislation. It was amazing how frequently it was unclear who got to do what to whom.
“how much of this comes from balancing the state budget on the backs of local government?”
Details schmetails. As long as you can run ads with bogus deceptive numbers and Raiders of the Lost Ark theme music ad nauseum.
This deception is a two-party game. You don’t see either Democrats or Republicans rooting it out, but perpetuating it.
If you are associated with a special interest lobby anymore, you have to have your model legislation prepared to give to a lawmaker. It’s like getting news items into small-town newspapers. Write the item and submit it. Who knows, it might just be printed, or made law, verbatim.