December 2009 Entries
Thursday Dec. 31, 2009
With the 2010 state legislative session looming, state Rep. Tim Neese, R-Elkhart, has a few things on his mind. I live in his district and, as a constituent, received a survey he put together in the mail. Here are some of the things he asks, apparently reflecting some of the issues that are important to him:
Tax caps: “Do you support giving Hoosiers a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment capping residential property taxes at 1% of a home’s assessed value, 2% for agriculture and rental properties and 3% for business property?”
My two...
Tuesday Dec. 29, 2009
State Rep. Wes Culver (R-Goshen) doesn’t necessarily think it’s such a bad thing for local government to scale back spending in these tough times.
New limits on the taxes property owners must pay will reduce the property tax revenue entering county, city, town, school, township and library coffers in coming years (look here). That has many Elkhart County officials worried about the spending cuts or layoffs they may have to implement and grumbling about the state-imposed caps.
Culver, though, notes that the tough economic times are forcing some companies to cut workers’ wages and reduce...
Monday Dec. 28, 2009
The new roadway taking shape off S.R. 120 that’ll lead to the new St. Joseph River boat ramp by Six Span Bridge is named River Launch Court.
That’s what it’s called in Elkhart County Planning Department documents, at least.
It’ll be paved — not gravel, like the old ramp parking area — and it’ll accommodate up to 49 vehicles and their trailers in marked, extra-long parking slots. There will be a public restroom — no more taking leaks in whatever convenient spot presents itself — and Elkhart County Planner Duane Burrow thinks there will also...
Thursday Dec. 24, 2009
Property tax collections for 2009 weren’t as bad as feared here in Elkhart County, the weak economy notwithstanding.
Elkhart County Auditor Dave Hess had worried collections could have been as low as 75 percent. If you don’t have work — unemployment here measured 14.5 percent last month — you may not have money to pay your property tax bill.
As it turns out, the county received 88.59 percent of the amount due as of Nov. 10, or $203.72 million of the $229.96 million to be collected. Nov. 10 was the deadline for the second and...
Sunday Dec. 13, 2009
Kim Davis, manager of the county-run Elkhart County Landfill can sympathize with the neighbors living around VIM Recycling who have been howling about odor issues.
As per an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, VIM, a wood recycler, has been tossing much of the accumulated wood waste at its facility at the landfill. As such, Davis has gotten a whiff or two of the stuff.
“It smells like a house fire,” he said. “Anyone who’s complaining about it has a valid case.”
EPA environmental engineer Paul Ruesch said the smells ought to end, for...
Tuesday Dec. 8, 2009
Goshen physician Vernon Maes doesn’t take issue with non-profit hospitals being able to operate tax-free.
But when free-standing clinics that compete with the private sector get tax-exempt status, too — to wit, The Retreat, operated by Goshen General Hospital — he draws the line. Since such facilities don’t have to pay property taxes and he does, they have an unfair advantage.
“If it’s competing against a private enterprise, then it should not be tax exempt,” said Maes, an OB/GYN.
Background: County leaders, notably County Assessor Cathy Searcy and County Council President John Letherman, have banged...
Thursday Dec. 3, 2009
My use of the word “critter” in connection with my coverage of Elkhart County's proposed animal ordinance was called into question by Jim Piechorowski. He's served on the committee that drafted the proposal.
"We never in our deliberations studied 'critters,'” he wrote in a letter to the editor last month. He says critter denotes a cow, horse or mule, perhaps a raccoon or opossum — creatures not at the core of the county's effort, which focused mostly on dogs.
Point taken.
But it gets tiresome using “dog,” “canine” and “animal” over and over. Plus, I...