July 2007 No. 29Table of Contents |
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Indiana is one of 8 states and Canada that make up an economic zone within North America that could be a powerhouse for growth in the decades ahead—if they agree to work together instead of exhausting their energies in intra-regional competition. That’s the bottom line of a report from the Brooking Institution (BI)—The Vital Center: A Federal-State Compact to Renew the Great Lakes Region—that challenges Hoosier policy-makers to stop thinking “rust belt” and start thinking “North Coast.”
These political units surround one-fifth of the world’s fresh water—the Great Lakes—and have been the giants of North America’s industrial age. Can they convert their technological assets into being a dynamo for the information age? If independent, this region would be the 3rd largest economy in the world. The stateside area already accounts for one-third of US patents. It is arguably the largest grouping of science and engineering centers in the world, comprising 19 of the global top 100 universities.
But the Great Lakes region also must redefine itself, reallocate its intellectual resources, boost and boast of its assets—interstates, waterways, a productive workforce—as well as overcome its challenges—flight of young educated workers, unemployment, “weak market” metro-areas, older housing and infrastructure, and racial segregation.
How will this turn-around happen? By “unnatural acts of collaboration,” said Brookings’ John Austin to a group of “thought-leaders” gathered in mid-June by IaUW, the City of Indianapolis, and IN Assn of Cities and Towns. BI proposes several strategies:
See www.brookings.org/metro/pubs/
20061020_renewgreatlakes.htm for the complete plan. The idea of inter-state collaboration may not be as far-fetched as it seems.
Between June 2006 and June 2007, our confidence in just about every basic institution down-shifted, reports the Gallup poll. A majority of Americans said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in only three major social institutions—the military (69%), small business (59%), and the police (54%)—yet even trust in these perennials dropped a level. Last month, even organized religion didn’t make the cut (46%), along with banks (41%), the U.S. Supreme Court (34%, prior to its late June decisions), public schools (33%), the medical system (31%), and the presidency (25%). Not even a quarter of adults had much confidence in television news (23%) or newspapers (22%), the criminal justice system (19%), organized labor (19%), big business (18%), or HMOs (15%). The new Democratic-majority Congress (14%) also did worse than last year’s Republican-controlled legislature (19%). Americans are in a funk.
The top “most important problem” continues to be the situation/war in Iraq (34% of mentions) followed by immigration/illegal aliens (15%), healthcare (9%), and dissatisfaction with government (9%), according to another mid-June Gallup survey. Asked if they were satisfied with the way things are going in the USA, only 30% said “yes.” Just 11% of blacks are satisfied with the way things are going compared to whites (31%) and Hispanics (30%).
What might prove more worrisome to those in the philanthropic community is Americans’ outlook on the economy. In mid-June, merely 34% of us thought national economic conditions were “excellent” or “good,” while 43% said “only fair,” and 23% said “poor.” Our neighbors’ optimism about the economy peaked at 69% in 2000. Today, 70% say the nation’s financial system is getting worse.
“Only 43% of Americans say now is a good time to find a quality job, and 53% say it’s a bad time,” reports Gallup. This opinion improved slightly in early 2007 and then dropped with increasing gasoline prices.
When asked what was the “most important financial problem facing your family today,” the top-line worries were healthcare costs (16%), low wages/lack of money (13%), and energy costs (11%). These have been the top three concerns since last fall.
Counties are rolling out the property tax bills, and some Hoosiers are likely to be filing appeals. Indpls Mayor Peterson called for a special session of the IN General Assembly to remedy the situation, and the Governor didn’t rule it out of hand. But then, Peterson is proposing a 65% Marion County income tax hike, and additional security was requested to protect township assessors from fuming taxpayers. Angry taxpayers picketed the Governor’s Residence on July 4th.
The legislature did enact $550 M in property tax relief over the next two years, including $300 M that will come in rebate checks later this year. The ability to do this rides entirely on a bet that the two pari-mutuel horse-racing tracks will ante up the money they need to add slot machines to their gaming facilities.
The property tax situation in the rest of the state does not seem as hostility-provoking as in the state’s capitol. Business assessments have not changed much. It appears that Marion County had a high portion of property classes that failed to meet rules for assessment accuracy and uniformity. So, some of these bills may prove to be incorrect. Indiana Legislative Insight speculates that Marion County may follow prior Lake County history and be ordered to conduct a special reassessment to make sure that “market values” actually are reflected in the new property tax bills.
The property tax dilemma is nationwide. Home values rose an average of 55% over the past five years across the USA, reports State Legislatures. “Sales of vacation homes and investment properties pumped up real estate values in coastal and resort areas. At the same time, homeowners on fixed incomes or with stagnant paychecks faced new financial pressures as property taxes soared,” it said.
Twenty-one states passed property tax cuts this year, on top of several others in 2006. In 2004, IN ranked 27th among states in per capita property tax bills, 10% under the national average. The US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development reports that single family housing starts in early 2007 dropped over a half million from 1.8 million January 2006, the steepest plunge in 13 years, according to CNN. The growing glut of new houses triggered a drop in prices, about 2% from 2006 to 2007. The National Association of Realtors cited an 8.4% drop in existing home sales—just from this February to March. And serious mortgage delinquency rates are rising. Indiana had the 4th highest delinquent home loan rate in the country in late 2006, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. We’ve not heard the end of this story yet.
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