Published: April 28, 2008 11:59 am         

Candidate opposes Indiana tax policy

James Teall, seeking the Republican nomination for the District 49 House of Representatives post, said he’s always been interested in government policy.

But, he said, “The thing that got me going this time was the what I consider an attack on local government, with the state tax policies that the General Assembly has adopted.

“They’re removing the local government’s ability to assess taxes, and if they can’t assess taxes, then they can’t do the things that people want them to do.”

Teall said he’s never “put so much stock” in the idea that state officials should have certain qualifications or experience to serve in office. For 17 years he worked as an engineer for the railroad company Milwaukee Road, and hopes his “engineering experience would be a good background to view things from.”

He has also served on the Bristol town park board and the library board, and said, “So I have some understanding of the workings of government.”

If elected, his goals would include giving “local governments taxing authority so that they can be responsive to the needs of their communities.”

Other goals relate to what Teall regards as philosophical differences between himself and the incumbent, Rep. John Ulmer.

Teall asserted that Ulmer, a trial lawyer, has supported three bills that benefited trial lawyers.

“The first one made it possible for parents to sue in the loss of a child. The second one expanded the liability of local governments, and the third one...was to penalize uninsured motorists, which to some extent sounds reasonable — they’re supposed to be insured — but it also gives trial lawyers someone to sue. That’s they’re biggest concern. It serves the trial lawyers to have somebody to sue.”

Teall also disagrees with what he called Ulmer’s support of “canned hunting — hunting within a fenced area. And I’m opposed to that. I’m pro hunting, and a conservationist, and I don’t consider that to be sporting or conservation.”

Teall also said Ulmer “has gone along with the state administration’s desires on this property tax thing. He’s been with them all the way.”

Property taxes

“They didn’t reduce taxes, they just replaced them with another tax. So this talk about saving 25 percent in property tax, that’s true, but it’s not a 25 percent reduction in taxes.”

Regarding amending the constitution to include the 1, 2 and 3 percent property tax caps for homeowners, rental properties and business, Teall said, “I’m opposed to that. I don’t think that’s something that should be in the constitution, even if you favor it. It’s tax law, and should just be law.

Schools and cities will lose revenue under the new plan. It’s been said that cities will start charging fees for services that, at this point, are free, such as trash pickup.

“I certainly am not in favor of this idea...of a multitude of minor taxes. That’s just an attempt to collect money without people noticing it, and I think it’s important for people to notice what they’re paying.”

As for Gov. Daniels’ critique that local governments need to spend less money, Teall said, “That’s my bone of contention with the state. I don’t think that’s (Daniels’) responsibility to worry about what local governments are spending. The local people control the local officials, and they can conveniently control spending at the ballot box...If they’re spending too much, or if we want them to spend money on something else, it’s not a perfect system, but they’re the ones we can get at. So that’s the place that’s the least concern for overspending. It’s much harder to control overspending in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.”

Teall “didn’t have a strong feeling one way or the other” about the decision to eliminate township assessors.

“I think that’s more up to the local areas to decide whether they want a township assessor or if they don’t. The state’s not in a position to judge. (The state) counts up the number of local assessors and makes it sound like it’s a lot, but, this isn’t a big state, but it’s 92 counties. So yeah, there’s a lot of public officials across the state, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not doing anything.”

One reason property taxes increase at a higher rate, said Teall, is due to how tax increment financing districts work.

“(TIFs) pay for facilities that should be paid by the people who are developing the property, not paid for by the general public. That increases the property tax of the people who are paying. They kind of cover this (by saying), ‘These people (developers) are paying all of their property tax, but it’s going for things in their district.’ Well, the effect is that they’re not paying all of their property tax, they’re spending part of that money on themselves.”

Tax abatements also raise property taxes for the general public, said Teall.

“I’m not sure we get all the benefits we should from all the tax abatements we give, and that’s another thing that reduces the tax base, and increases the rate for the rest of the people.”

Gambling

As of July 1, pull-tabs and other low-stakes games of chance will be allowed in taverns.

Teall said in general, he is opposed to gambling as a source of state revenue.

“Some of these ideas for gambling in special places are appealing,” he said, “like in French Lick, because it’s sort of nostalgic, and riverboat gambling, and so maybe we can tolerate those. But to go beyond that like we’ve started to do with slot machines at racetracks ... I don’t think we need that.”

However, said Teall, pull-tabs don’t seem to be as big of a deal.

“Since we do have gambling, I see these pull-tabs in the taverns as being a minor thing, and I have no objection to it, given that we do a lot of gambling in the state. (Pull-tabs are) a minor thing, money-wise. They’re just a dollar. As far as problem gambling, it’s where people are spending money in the casinos.”

Immigration

Of the immigration bill that failed to pass in the General Assembly last session, Teall said, “I would’ve supported that bill,” even though “a lot of employers didn’t like it, because it placed more responsibility on them, and I recognize it would, but I feel that’s a practical way to approach the problem.”

For example, he would support, after several offenses, that businesses lose their licenses for hiring illegal immigrants.

“There would have to be some penalty for hiring illegals. I guess I would favor that until something better was proposed.”

He also thinks it would be worthwhile to train local police officers in federal illegal immigration enforcement protocol.

He said one reason that police departments have opposed the idea is that “the immigration service is not equipped to take people into custody when they are apprehended. But I still would be in favor of this training, so they would be able to do it whenever it did work out.”

U.S. 33 widening

“I’m not sure how necessary (the widening) is on Madison Street,” said Teall, “but I think improvements out there ought to be from College Avenue to Kercher Road (C.R. 38). That sure could be improved with a center lane, and I imagine that’s what they have in mind there.

“I do empathize with the people on Madison Street that want to retain the character of that street. I think that’s a legitimate goal. I think the widening that’s done should try to retain the character that’s there.”

Teall also said a grade separation is necessary, although “it’s a pretty restricted area to put one in.”

Both projects would be good uses for Major Moves money, he said.

“They’re capital improvements, so I don’t think we should treat Major Moves money as too sacred.”