Creating A New Government Culture: The Search For Champions

Abstract

The Situation In January of 1997, a newly elected governor appointed a new Chairman of the Indiana State Board of Tax Commissioners. The three commissioners of the Tax Board are responsible for overseeing and approving the budgets, levies, and local property tax rates for the 2300 taxing units in the state. This includes schools, county and local units of government as well as other special taxing units and districts. The Tax Board is also responsible for administering the assessment of property in Indiana including training and certifying all local assessors and the equalization of local assessments in all 92 Indiana counties. The new commissioner was appointed by the governor to implement the governor's "Smaller and Smarter Government" initiative. The commissioner's task was to analyze the agency and make changes that would improve the performance of the agency while making the Indiana property tax system simpler, fairer, and conducive to economic development. At a briefing of state agency heads in March of 1997, the governor directed all agency leaders to "find ways to enable citizens and local officials to do things, rather than create impediments that prevent them from getting things done." It was clear that the new governor wanted agencies to facilitate action on the part of citizens and local officials, and to not focus on flexing their regulatory and watchdog muscles.