Back Home in Indiana

I was probably a bit over-dramatic in a Comment at The New Englander when I talked about a fiscal crisis in 2010 for Lowell.  However, we do need to keep an eye on situation.  Look at what is happening in Gary, Indiana.  Even one of the Casinos they rely on for revenue is going bankrupt.  Now that is a bad sign, and one we need to consider here in the Commonwealth before we head out and authorize four for this state.

The Chicago Boyz talk about this at their blog post.  And, they provide a link to the financial report here.♠

I have connections to Gary, remote though they may be.  My paternal grandfather built the brick furnaces for one of the steel mills, a long time ago.  My father-in-law worked his way through Purdue working in those steel mills.  My wife was born in Gary.

One commenter at the Chicago Boyz post was surprised that there is a problem with the property tax.  Where he is from in down-state Indiana the process is to figure the need and then use the limit of the property tax to set the assessed value of the property.  The writer did provide this overview of the property tax law in the State of Indiana.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Warning, this is a big file.  A 265 page PDF.