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Watchdog Lebanon
Watchdog Lebanon provides information about the revenues, spending, and long-term debt
assumption of the local and county governments in Boone County. An online community is
established where Boone County Hoosiers work together to help control government growth. This volunteer
effort is non-party, non-connected, and non-profit.
Watchdog Lebanon is an advocate for good government that focuses on the local tax burden of Boone County working families.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, ... who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
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Immediate action needed!
04/30/2011:
The Lebanon Clerk Treasurer primary election this Tuesday, May 3, is
important. The winner of Tuesday's election will undoubtedly win the
November 8 general election and become our Clerk Treasurer.
The office of Clerk Treasurer in Lebanon is particularly important because of how our Redevelopment Commission operates. The hoped-for Taxpayer Friendly redevelopment commission oversight legislation unfortunately failed to pass the General Assembly this session. What this means is that the Lebanon RDC will continue to operate with very limited oversight by our Lebanon City Council. The Lebanon RDC, which is composed of five residents appointed solely by the Mayor, can continue to spend its accumulated excess funds (instead of terminating the RDC so we would all have lower property taxes) pretty much however it wants to without the approval of our City Council. The bottom line is that the Lebanon RDC can continue to be a poorly regulated "piggy bank" for the developer-dominated dreams and schemes of the Lebanon Mayor.
The ONLY reliable source of timely information about the Lebanon RDC finances is the Clerk Treasurer's office. The only way for concerned citizens to keep track of the shadowy RDC operation is through public records requests submitted to the Clerk Treasurer. We must have a Clerk Treasurer who will respect both the spirit and letter of our public records access laws.
One Clerk Treasurer primary candidate is running as part of a "team" with the current Mayor. Indeed, the Lebanon Reporter has written that the current Mayor has provided at least 62% of her campaign funds. We need an independent-minded Clerk Treasurer who views herself as the city's fiscal "watchdog" first and a beholden team member second.
After meeting with her, I am convinced that Deanna Willhoite is a tough-minded public servant who puts her concept of what constitutes good public policy before going-along-to-get-along. While Deanna has an admirable record of working with others to make Boone County government better, she does not present herself as a teammate first and foremost. I have no doubt that Deanna will respond forthrightly to public records requests as Clerk Treasurer. I also feel sure she will freely provide the "unvarnished" truth about city spending and its consequences.
Deanna is in her seventh year as Boone County Treasurer. She inherited a bit of a "mess" from her predecessor. Every one of Deanna's audits by the Indiana State Board of Accounts has been deficiency-free.
Please seriously consider Deanna Willhoite's qualifications when you vote on May 3 because she will be a capable, independent, and responsive public servant.
Did
You Know?
07/23/2010: The Lebanon School Board approved a $40
million capital projects referendum for the November 2010 ballot. Both the
Lebanon School Board and the Support Lebanon Students Political Action
Committee have done a crummy job of educating voters about the referendum
- they have merely been advocates for the dreams and schemes of the
Lebanon Schools administration and the Greater
Lebanon Community Vision Committee. To provide taxpayers The Whole
Truth about the 2010 Lebanon Community Schools Referendum, Watchdog
Indiana has put up the web page http://www.finplaneducation.net/the_whole_truth.htm.
|
Watchdog Lebanon Topics Index |
| Boone County Candidate
Information: 2008 Boone County Candiates (Boone County Auditor Primary Election). 2007 Boone County Candidates (November 6, 2007, Lebanon Mayor General Election). 2006 Boone County Candidates (Boone County Council General Election). 2004 Boone County Candidates (November 2, 2004, Boone County Commissioners General Election; November 2, 2004, Boone County Council General Election; May 4, 2004, Boone County Commissioners Republican Primary; May 4, 2004, Boone County Council Republican Primary). 2002-03 Boone County Candidates (November 4, 2003, Lebanon Mayor and City Council General Election; November 5, 2002, Boone County Council District 3 General Election; May 7,2002, Boone County Commissioner District 1 Republican Primary). |
| Boone County Disbursements |
| Boone County Growth Projections |
| Boone County Highway Department |
| Boone County Property Taxes |
| Boone County Utilities: March 12, 2003, IURC News Release about BCU Change Orders. |
| Consumer Price Index |
| Convention Center |
| County Council Voting Record |
| County Option Income Tax (COIT) |
| Elected Representatives Directory |
| Emergency Telephone System (E911) Fee |
| Family Meals Tax: Lebanon Food and Beverage Tax. |
| I-65 Development: Duke Realty Project. I-65 South Corridor Overlay District. |
| Lebanon Business Park Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District |
| Lebanon City Council Voting Record |
| Lebanon City Finances |
| Lebanon Community Schools 2010 Refereendum |
| Lebanon "Gateway" Project |
| Lebanon I-65 Corridor Annexation (RESOURCE: SayNotoFishers.com) |
| Lebanon Municipal Building |
| Lebanon Public Library |
| Lebanon School Finances |
| Lebanon Utilities - Wastewater (Sewer) |
| Lebanon Utilities - Water |
| Petition and Remonstrance |
| Population Data: City Of Lebanon; Center Township; Boone County; State Of Indiana. |
| Recount Commission: 2002 Boone County Commissioner District 1. |
| Related Sites: Boone County Area Plan Commission; Boone County Chamber of Commerce; Boone County Community Network; Boone County Economic Development Corporation; Boone County E-mail Directory; Boone County Farm Bureau, Boone County Republicans; Boone REMC; Lebanon (City Of), Indiana; Lebanon Community School Corporation; Lebanon Community Vision Committee. |
| US 421 Corridor Overlay District |
| Wheel Tax |
You
Can Help.
Listed below are several ways you can help control taxes and spending
in Boone County.
Bookmark
this website so you can easily visit Watchdog Lebanon often to help learn about cash revenues, cash spending, and long-term debt
assumption in the various Boone County governmental units.
Suggest projects for Watchdog
Lebanon to adopt. Please send an E-mail
if you know of something that needs the attention of Watchdog Lebanon.
Register to vote.
Send an E-mail to the Boone
County Clerk to request information on how and where to register to
vote.
Take a local candidate's
Voting Record on important
resolutions into account when voting.
E-mail to the Editor of your
local newspaper a letter or opinion article about local cash revenues, cash spending, and long-term debt assumption. Use Letters
To The Editor Via E-mail to find the E-mail address of the
Editor of your local newspaper.
Use the Local Government
Factfinding List to understand and influence the revenues, spending, and
long-term debt assumption decisions of your local government.
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Watchdog Lebanon summarizes my use of Boone County, Indiana, as a case study to demonstrate how you can work to help control the revenue and spending growth of your local government. Understanding the Fundamental Watchdog Beliefs will help you understand the approach taken in this website. Please send an E-mail telling what you think about Watchdog Lebanon or anything else that comes to mind. Your comments, suggestions, problems, complaints, praise, and opinions are welcome.
This page was last updated on 01/09/12.