Muncie, IN 1998
Partners:
When Indiana legislators met in 1999 to begin restructuring the state tax system, they had a good understanding of what their constituents thought about the issue, thanks to a booklet called “Hoosiers Talk Taxes,” the culmination of a yearlong project to inject citizen voices into the debate over tax reform.
The first effort in the project was to educate journalists themselves about the complex issues surrounding tax reform. Economics professors from three Indiana universities held a seminar that attracted 20 journalists, in June 1998. The session aired live on WLBC and was broadcast later on cable.
A five-part series, “Tax Reform: Finding a Balance,” ran in The Star Press from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, 1998. It included the results of a mail survey completed by 223 Muncie area residents, showing property taxes to be by far the most unpopular tax in the state. On Oct. 6, the partners sponsored a public forum, attended by 103 people, including eight legislators, to discuss the results.
The survey results also helped guide a statewide poll of 507 Indiana residents, in late October and November, which showed most Hoosiers favored increasing so-called “sin” taxes on tobacco and alcohol. The survey results and coverage were included in “Hoosiers Talk Taxes,” mailed to the governor and every member of the General Assembly in early 1999.
The issue languished until the summer of 2002, when the governor called the legislature into a special session to resolve the issue. The Assembly ended up changing the assessment system for property taxation and increasing the state income tax and sales taxes on tobacco and alcohol, thus taking the pressure off local property taxes – all measures explored in the 1999 series.
Contact:
Larry S. Lough
Editor
The Star Press
345 South High Street
Muncie, In 47305
Phone: (765) 213-5700
Email: llough@thestarpress.com