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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Ind. Gov.t - More on: Cheryl Musgrave resigns Indiana Department of Local Government Finance position

Updating this ILB entry from Dec. 13th, here are three stories today on her successor.

Bryan Corbin of the Evansville Courier & Press reports:

INDIANAPOLIS — The person who will succeed Cheryl Musgrave as the state's property tax czar is a former Air Force JAG lawyer who helped draft Indiana's new property tax relief law.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has named Tim Rushenberg as the new commissioner of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, succeeding Musgrave, who resigned Friday. As department commissioner — a job unofficially called the property tax czar — Rushenberg will be the state's final authority on local government school budgets, spending and property taxes. * * *

Musgrave, an Evansville resident and former Vanderburgh County commissioner and assessor, was appointed by Daniels at the peak of the property tax crisis in July 2007. She ordered new reassessments in numerous counties where assessments had been flawed in order to correct disparities in property taxes.

Citing a desire to return to Evansville after nearly a year and a half in Indianapolis, Musgrave announced her resignation Friday.

"Anyone who takes that job has my greatest respect, because it's a no-win job," said state Sen. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton. "In every case that I've dealt with (Musgrave), she's been extremely helpful. I think they were doing about as good a job as you could expect."

As the state official who could summarily reject budget requests of municipalities and schools, Musgrave had her share of harsh critics among local government officials. Rushenberg "is going to inherit a tough job," Kenley predicted. "A lot of local government units were reluctant to get on board to make changes to run the property tax system the right way. ... It's just been a thankless job to force change in a system that's 150 years old."

Rushenberg, 33, acknowledges that his promotion to property tax czar could mean he, too, will face the ire of local officials. "Of course, anybody who enters public life expects a certain level of scrutiny. I expect that," he said.

Patrick Guinane of the NWI Times has a report here; Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has this story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 16, 2008 08:54 AM
Posted to Indiana Government