11-05-04 Informal Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Luecke confirmed that he sits on the state commission study efficiency. They have focused on such items as the township system, noting that many township officials work out of their homes. Additional costs may be involved when"human costs" are reviewed. It is a complicated issue which needs flexibility, local decision-making, consistency, fairness and constituent participation. If these factors are not involved he believes that trust will be undercut. Commissioner Bodle noted that the mind-set is changing citing that communications in the fire area. The Council Attorney noted that another example of cooperation between Mishawaka, South Bend and the county is the anti-terrorism committees which have resulted in positive results for each governmental entity, including the sharing of homeland security funds. State Representative Dvorak stated that he believes that assessors have been fair, especially when you see the number of appeals which have been filed. He welcomed any ideas and encouraged that there be more meetings of this type and that delegations come down to Indianapolis. Commissioner Bodle noted that poor relief laws are antiquated. She, County Council President Morton and the Council Attorney each voiced concerns of the current state law being overly broad which leads to inconsistency and unfairness among the townships. Council Member Kuspa noted that he has many 80-90 year old residents facing gigantic tax bills,many of which are widow or widowers. He urged that something be done to help them at the state level. In response to a question from County Council President Morton, State Representative Dvorak stated that the Indiana Supreme Court did not allow a phase in process for real estate taxes. He added that there has been a huge costs to counties to implement the new process. County Council President Morton noted that the bigger issue now is where do we go from here. Is there something that really is going to be done at the state level. Commissioner Dobson stressed that South Bend real estate is not selling, and that will result in a real problem for continued development of South Bend. State Representative Dvorak noted that the blame game has gone on, but people need to come together and have a"unified understanding". City Attorney Charles Leone stated that the city is working with the TACT Legislative Committee. He noted that there is a "burden of supporting all of the not-for-profits in the city, but there is also a benefit". Not-for-profits provide a source of good paying jobs, however they sit on alot of no-taxable properties,and this needs to be addressed. State Representative Dvorak noted that often developers would rather plow up more corn fields than locate in the city. • Informal Meeting of the South Bend Common Council November 5,2004—Page 4