QUOTE
Michigan Township assessor question? He will stay
MICHIGAN CITY - Terry Beckinger went to bed Tuesday night not knowing if he would have a job when he woke up this morning.
He does.
When the final numbers for the ballot question on whether to keep the Michigan Township Assessor's office were totaled, 4,917 people voted to keep the office while 4,534 voted to fold it into the county assessor's office.
Beckinger said he was going to watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech and then turn in and find out the results in the morning.
"I feel it's kind of premature to say much of anything," he said.
Before all of the results from the six wards in Michigan Township were in, Beckinger said he felt good that a majority of voters had rejected the measure to turn his and his staff's assessing duties over to County Assessor Carol McDaniel.
"It's been interesting. I've kind of been watching it like when you run for election and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the first results," said Beckinger. "It was being defeated by 250 votes right off the bat and the numbers gradually increased."
The fate of the Michigan Township Assessor became a ballot issue when the General Assembly passed House Bill 1001 that changed property tax assessment and began a move to streamline state government by eliminating more than 900 township assessors.
There were 43 townships in Indiana that have more than 15,000 parcels and each was up for a vote. Michigan Township was La Porte County's only township in which voters were to choose.
The other 20 townships had their assessing duties turned over to the county on July 1.
"It's like the lady is there, but she hasn't sung yet," said Beckinger. "I'll just wait until the morning. I'll watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech and go to bed. I guess I'll have to make some phone calls to find out how it came out."
Contact City Editor Rick A. Richards at news@thenewsdispatch.com.
MICHIGAN CITY - Terry Beckinger went to bed Tuesday night not knowing if he would have a job when he woke up this morning.
He does.
When the final numbers for the ballot question on whether to keep the Michigan Township Assessor's office were totaled, 4,917 people voted to keep the office while 4,534 voted to fold it into the county assessor's office.
Beckinger said he was going to watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech and then turn in and find out the results in the morning.
"I feel it's kind of premature to say much of anything," he said.
Before all of the results from the six wards in Michigan Township were in, Beckinger said he felt good that a majority of voters had rejected the measure to turn his and his staff's assessing duties over to County Assessor Carol McDaniel.
"It's been interesting. I've kind of been watching it like when you run for election and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the first results," said Beckinger. "It was being defeated by 250 votes right off the bat and the numbers gradually increased."
The fate of the Michigan Township Assessor became a ballot issue when the General Assembly passed House Bill 1001 that changed property tax assessment and began a move to streamline state government by eliminating more than 900 township assessors.
There were 43 townships in Indiana that have more than 15,000 parcels and each was up for a vote. Michigan Township was La Porte County's only township in which voters were to choose.
The other 20 townships had their assessing duties turned over to the county on July 1.
"It's like the lady is there, but she hasn't sung yet," said Beckinger. "I'll just wait until the morning. I'll watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech and go to bed. I guess I'll have to make some phone calls to find out how it came out."
Contact City Editor Rick A. Richards at news@thenewsdispatch.com.