Letter to the Editor: Vote for limited, focused, fiscally conservative candidates in upcoming election

From now until November 3rd, residents of Dubois County have a chance to vote for the future of their towns and cities.

We all want the area to continue to grow and the area is highly populated with people age 55 and over. This means we need to be looking to bring the younger generations, be it our kids or others from around the country. We need to support the Mid-State Corridor and hopefully bring broadband to the entire county.

For our county and region’s future, those things must happen.

The question isn’t the end goal, it is how to achieve it and the role of government in it.

In Jasper, you have two approaches to base your vote on. The two approaches differ enough there is a fairly apparent set of candidates to support, but I am not here to tell you who to vote for. Instead, I hope to inform on the topics of fiscal conservatism to help shape your vote.

Fiscal conservatism, and the people who support this policy, believe that TIF is a tool that mostly ends up weakening the infrastructure of the entire county. It helps underfund school corporations and drives the non-TIF government entities to eventually raise taxes and slash spending. I wrote many times on this already, and stand by what I have written.

http://gateway.ifionline.org/ TIFviewer/

Remember that schools take in around 40-45 percent of local property taxes to complete their funding formula.

I believe government’s role in economic development should be limited and focused. Removing red tape via “Shovel Ready” infrastructure development and limited-focused property tax abatements are good tools to use and have proven successful across Indiana.

Additionally, our cities, towns, schools, and county governments should have balanced budgets year over year and be prepared for the fallout of the coming federal government debt bubble pop. Government should strive to keep taxes and debt minimized while achieving this goal. Low taxes teamed up with the previously mentioned economic development tools should breed long-term, sustainable growth.

As JFK urged people to not rely on government, but seek to do what you can do. Government should be a minority partner in funding growth within the community. This growth instead should be driven by interested entrepreneurs and investors who not only seek to make profit but also have “skin in the game” of developing the local area. Then, as Reagan would say, government should be limited and as small in size as possible to promote prosperity and liberty.

Therefore, I will vote for the candidates who will support those positions, regardless of party. I urge you to apply this to how you vote on your ballot this fall, and then again next year during the primaries and general election.

Adrian Engelberth
Jasper, Ind.