EDITORIAL – Tornatta Raises Homestead Tax Credit’s Ugly Head

By: Don Counts, Editor

On April 1, 2008 Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel invited a carefully selected group of elected and appointed officials to his office. That meeting and the 14 months of silence that followed it resulted in what is now recognized as one of the biggest political mistakes of the century in the State of Indiana. When the scenario played itself out 14 months later it became obvious that this secret meeting had jeopardized the Homestead Tax Credit for the citizens of Vanderburgh County. The intent of the April Fool’s Day 2008 meeting was not to jeopardize the Homestead Tax Credit, the clear intent was to eliminate the Homestead Tax Credit appropriating $5.1 Million from the homeowners of Vanderburgh County into the coffers of local government. However, the invitation specified that the meeting was to discuss ways to save money in the next year. Vanderburgh County was the only county in the entire State of Indiana to do such a thing. Eventually, Governor Mitch Daniels intervened on behalf of the citizens of Vanderburgh County to reinstate the 2009 Homestead Tax Credit correcting and overruling local officials including Mayor Weinzapfel who incorrectly stated that it could not be done. Thankfully, Vanderburgh County homeowners were spared the hardship of having their Homestead Tax Credit vanish like a thief in the night. In the end, it was a visibly shaken Mayor Weinzapfel who appeared on television and told the taxpayers they would get back the homestead tax credit.

At a recent debate between Marsha Abell (R) and Troy Tornatta (D), candidates for the office of Vanderburgh County Commissioner, Commissioner Tornatta brought up the issue of Mrs. Abell’s presence at the now infamous secret Homestead Tax Credit meeting. In that debate Commissioner Tornatta accused Mrs. Abell of being complicit in the attempt to take $5.1 Million out of the pockets of Vanderburgh County homeowners by conveniently “forgetting” to vote to renew the Homestead Tax Credit. Mrs. Abell retorted that her position on that issue was one of no power since the City Council by Indiana State law was the final decision maker on whether a Homestead Tax Credit would be granted to homeowners in 2009 and the Evansville City Council had to present it to the Vanderburgh County Council for a vote, which they did not do.

The secret meeting was hosted by Mayor Weinzapfel and attended by then County Council President Marsha Abell, then County Councilman Lloyd Winnecke, then County Commissioner President Jeff Korb, County Auditor Bill Fluty, Finance Chairman and City Councilman Curt John, then City Council President Keith Jarboe, Mayor Weinzapfel’s chief of staff Rose Young, and then City Controller Lisa Acobert.

Because the meeting contained no agenda or quorum of any local governmental body, it was not required by Indiana’s Open Door Law to be advertised or held in public. Make no mistake, this was never meant to be a public meeting and whomever issued the invitations made sure that it would not be public when the guest list was being formulated.

Fourteen (14) months later this issue has been raised by Commissioner Tornatta in his campaign in an attempt to defame Mrs. Abell and retain his seat as a Vanderburgh County Commissioner. Because of Commissioner Tornatta’s insistence on making this an election issue in 2010, it is very likely that this issue will also be a focus point in the City of Evansville elections for Mayor and City Council in 2011. In fairness to Mrs. Abell who is bearing the full force of this issue, it is a good time to call for some confessions on the part of the attendees and those City and County officials who were not at the meeting, but should have recognized the oversight a few months later. As Commissioner Tornatta has amply pointed out and Mrs. Abell has agreed, transparency and honesty are of upmost importance in the selection of public officials. The details of the April Fool’s Day meeting and the reason(s) that not one person came forward publically to expose this secretive attempt to increase the taxes on Vanderburgh County homeowners by $5.1 Million by deliberately choosing not to act are worth exploring one more time. In fact, nobody came forward until the City-County Observer broke the news about this secret meeting.

It is clear that the Mayor of Evansville, Jonathan Weinzapfel, orchestrates and primarily controls the budget of the City of Evansville that is approved by the City Council. Vanderburgh County’s budget is controlled by the County Commissioners and approved by the County Council. Mr. Tornatta was a member of the Vanderburgh County Commissioners at the time of the April Fool’s Day meeting when the saga of the disappearing Homestead Tax Credit began. The City Council, the County Council, and the County Commissioners along with the Mayor were populated with people who were experienced in the budget process and had formed budgets that included the Homestead Tax Credit in previous years.

It was not only the people who received invitations from the Mayor to the April Fool’s Day meeting who were responsible for including the Homestead Tax Credit into the 2009 budget. Each and every member of the respective City and County Councils and each County Commissioner bear responsibility for this oversight whether it was deliberate or not. As a sitting County Commissioner and a former member of the County Council, Commissioner Tornatta was just as responsible as Mrs. Abell for assuring that the Homestead Tax Credit was included in the 2009 budget. It is very difficult to accept the fact that with over 20 elected officials participating in the budgetary process, not a single one remembered to propose renewal of the Homestead Tax Credit in June of 2008. This oversight had to have been orchestrated both inside and outside the group who were selected to receive invitations to the April Fool’s Day gathering.

The City County Observer refuses to accept political charges from someone who also should have caught the Homestead Tax Credit oversight and come forward to rectify it. Commissioner Tornatta should engage his opponent in the real issues of this campaign like finding a developer to replace the Executive Inn, providing financial oversight to the CVB’s $18M ball field proposal, industrial development, roads, sheriff and fire protection, unified government, funds for entrepreneurship, and other quality of life issues that inhibit Vanderburgh County’s competitiveness for outside investment.

To publically support honesty and transparency but fail to address issues that happened on one’s watch is hypocritical. As a reminder, it was the City County Observer that exposed the Homestead Tax Credit fiasco after confirming the information in an interview with Marsha Abell. Her assertion at the recent debate with Commissioner Tornatta that the City County Observer was the only media outlet initially that would publish her account about the Homestead Tax Credit fiasco is also true.

It is often said that behind every successful man is a strong woman. At the time that the Homestead Tax Credit fiasco occurred, Marsha Abell was the only female elected official on any of the three governing bodies in Vanderburgh County. She is also the only one of the group of over 20 elected and appointed officials to have her presence at the meeting used against her in a political campaign. It seems as though the old saying is reversed here in Vanderburgh County. Behind one strong woman are a herd of men who are fearfully hoping that she will take the heat for them all. In Vanderburgh County politics, the practice of chivalry runs in reverse.