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If Indiana lawmakers need any more incentive for tax and government reform than the angry horde of property taxpayers they now face, they can find it in data released recently by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Indiana was ranked as the 11th worst state for the well-being of poor children.
If the ranking isn’t troubling enough, lawmakers should consider that poor children are more likely to suffer health problems, to struggle in school, to be victims of abuse and to fall into crime. In other words, they are more likely to increase demands on taxpayer-supported services and less likely to become productive, taxpaying citizens.
And the numbers are growing. Since 2000, the number of Hoosier children living in poverty has increased by more than 20 percent – almost double the U.S. average for the same period. Statewide, more than 28 percent of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, up from 20 percent in 2000. Northeast Indiana mirrors the trend, with Noble County topping the state average at 29.4 percent.
Those numbers represent households with earnings so low that they qualify for assistance with school lunches and textbooks. For a family of four, the maximum income to qualify for a reduced-price lunch is $38,203. With one out of four Indiana families qualifying, there are thousands struggling to get by.
When lawmakers are cobbling together a solution to the property tax problem, they must be aware of the effect of their efforts on those families, in particular. Budget cuts or tax shifts can inordinately affect one group, with unintended consequences that ultimately drive up costs elsewhere.
Mark GiaQuinta, a member of the Fort Wayne Community Schools board, pointed to one example at Monday’s meeting. He noted that the budget cuts in Allen County government had reduced the number of snowplows. The county actions had consequences for local school districts, three of which were closed Dec. 5.
“The county might not even have known the effect, but it was pretty telling when all of those schools closed for 3 inches of snow,” he said. “If we are serious about making education a countywide goal, maybe we can at least agree to prioritize bus routes. That’s an example of where governmental units need to talk to one another.”
GiaQuinta is right. If taxpayers are to continue insisting on ever-increasing test scores and achievement, they need to insist that schools remain open so students can learn.
The local-government-restructuring plan released Tuesday places great emphasis on efficiency and accountability, but those concepts need to be considered as much on how spending will reduce greater reliance on taxes as on how to cut taxes overall. Drastic cuts in school spending, for example, could ultimately drive up the number of dropouts and, in turn, the number of Hoosiers requiring assistance.
Bill Stanczykiewicz, president and CEO of the non-partisan Indiana Youth Institute, said policymakers must weigh the effects of the state taking over the responsibility for all child welfare costs and additional school costs.
“We should continue to keep our eyes on the impact on children,” he said. “It might turn out to be neutral, but the financial bottom line is not the only bottom line.”
That will require a view of not only the immediate effects, but also the long-term consequences. Lawmakers need to understand and taxpayers need to accept that the problems of rising tax bills and increasing child poverty are intertwined. There’s no way to fix the first without addressing the latter.
