The mother of two children murdered by Jeffrey Weisheit urged Indiana’s parole board Monday to reject his plea for mercy, saying her children deserved the futures he took from them.

Her appeal came hours after Weisheit’s family and attorneys asked the five-member board to recommend sparing his life, citing his history of mental illness and head injuries, his religious conversion and a written request from the murdered children’s father for forgiveness and a sentence of life without parole.

The Indiana Department of Correction also released a $275,000 invoice Monday in response to the Indiana Capital Chronicle’s requests for execution drug purchasing records.

Dated Sept. 25, the invoice does not specify the drug or number of doses, nor does it show if or when the pentobarbital arrived. DOC did not provide an updated drug inventory on Monday.

Weisheit was sentenced to death in 2013 for murdering 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her 5-year-old brother, Caleb, in a fire at his home near Evansville. Their mother, Lisa Lynch, was working an overnight shift and had left the children in his care.

Monday’s testimony in Indianapolis concluded the public hearings on his clemency request following an interview Friday with Weisheit at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

His execution is scheduled there before sunrise Nov. 5.

The board did not issue a recommendation Monday afternoon. Chair Gwen Horth said one would not come for several days. Gov. Mike Braun will make the final decision.

Mother asks board to remember her children

Speaking remotely from out of state, Lisa Lynch began her testimony through tears, asking the board to remember the children and not just the case against their killer. At Lynch’s request, only board members could see her video because of privacy concerns.

“I am here today to ensure that my children’s voices are heard, their names are spoken, and their lives are remembered,” she said. “Alyssa and Caleb are not just names on a case file, dates in a record, or photos in an evidence box.”

Alyssa was creative and loved drawing pictures of her family, Lynch recalled. She adored her younger brother. Caleb loved hugs, helping his mother in the kitchen and playing with trucks and trains.

Their deaths robbed her of watching them finish school, build careers and have families of their own, she said.

“Every single day without them is a struggle,” Lynch said. “Every birthday, every holiday, every landmark moment is marked by their agonizing absence. Time passes, but the weight of losing them never fades.”

She described surviving domestic violence and emotional abuse and said efforts to blame her for Weisheit’s actions had continued into the clemency proceedings.

During Friday’s interview, Weisheit repeatedly discussed his anger and suspicions about Lynch while struggling to explain why he directed that anger at her children.

Lynch said that after the murders, she returned to school and built a career that allowed her to support her family and be home every night.

“They will always be my children,” she said. “They will always matter, and I will never stop speaking for them.”

The children’s father, Steven Lynch, took the opposite position in a sworn statement seeking life without parole. He did not attend Monday’s hearing.

“What good does it do the memory of my children to put this man to death?” he wrote. “I seek to save his family the great pain and loss from the taking of his life. I want to prevent another parent from experiencing the loss I have experienced.”

First responders describe lasting trauma

First responders and investigators described the killings and the memories they still carry.

David Bretz, the German Township Fire Department’s assistant chief at the time of the fire, said he arrived first to find flames pushing through every opening.

Firefighters found Caleb’s body on a mattress, with his hands and feet bound behind him. The search for Alyssa continued for hours. Bretz said he ultimately spotted a small hand amid the debris in her bedroom closet.

“Everything from the fire to the investigation, my deposition, testimony at the trial, and now this will be with me forever,” Bretz said. “It weakens me and terrifies me on a regular basis.”

At least three firefighters sought counseling, he said. Bretz also read statements from colleagues describing lasting trauma and said Friday’s interview had not persuaded him Weisheit was remorseful.

“Please, I beg of you, carry out the sentence that was placed upon him for the appalling crimes that he committed upon all of us,” Bretz said.

Chad Ferguson, the on-duty patrol supervisor, recalled sheriff’s deputies frantically searching places the children might have been taken. After Caleb was found, he initially could not get the words out to tell their mother.

Forensic dentist Dr. Crunchy Wells described identifying the children using dental records and recent Easter photographs.

“It was the hardest report I ever had to make,” she said. “It was the saddest thing I had ever seen.”

Retired investigators Randy Chapman and Kerri Blessinger challenged the defense’s account of Weisheit’s mental condition and remorse. Blessinger characterized the killings as domestic violence intended to devastate the children’s mother. She said forgiveness did not erase the punishment.

“Let me make one thing very, very clear: forgiveness and punishment are not the same,” Blessinger said. “They do not go hand in hand. One does not equal another.”

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers closed by recalling the children’s personalities and urging officials to uphold the sentence.

“The death penalty was the sentence recommended by the jury, reviewed by our courts, and so is justice,” Moers said. “Each person should be afforded the full protections of the United States Constitution and the due process that it brings.”

State challenges Weisheit’s account

Tyler Banks, chief of capital and habeas litigation for the Indiana attorney general’s office, argued that Weisheit’s sentence had survived extensive review by the courts and that his clemency presentation offered no reason to overturn it.

“A jury of his peers unanimously recommended a death sentence, and that sentence has withstood more than a decade of challenge,” Banks said. “Gov. Braun should not overturn all of those judgments.”

Banks recounted evidence that Weisheit bound and gagged Caleb, placed railroad flares near his body and in his clothing, and left both children in the burning house before fleeing the state.

He disputed Weisheit’s account Friday that he started the fire by placing a phone book on a stove burner. Banks said evidence of an accelerant and the flares contradicted that explanation.

Banks also rejected Weisheit’s unsupported suggestion that police or emergency responders might have placed the flares at the scene.

Horth and board member Jim Shaffer questioned how Weisheit could recall other details while denying responsibility for the flares.

Defense attorney Joseph Perkovich attributed the discrepancy to memory gaps, saying Weisheit sometimes constructs explanations for events he cannot recall. He emphasized that the legal team did not endorse Weisheit’s suggestion that someone else planted the flares.

“I’ve talked with him about it. He has zero recollection of the flares,” Perkovich said. “I don’t think this is guile or artifice on his part.”

Banks said mental health evidence had already been extensively litigated. He argued that Weisheit “used suicide attempts as a mechanism to obtain better housing,” rather than acting because of a psychiatric crisis.

Defense attorneys, however, described those episodes as psychiatric deterioration involving fears that others intended to harm him. Perkovich said Weisheit went on a hunger strike to secure hospitalization because he believed he was unsafe.

Family seeks mercy, treatment and more testing

Several dozen people, including relatives, attorneys and death penalty opponents, crowded into the Indiana Government Center conference room for the morning presentation.

Weisheit’s attorneys opened with a family video. His aunts, sister and parents described childhood behavioral difficulties, suicide attempts and head injuries, followed by years of steady work.

Relatives said they had embraced Alyssa and Caleb as family and struggled to reconcile the killings with the man they knew.

His sister, Carrie Jones, feared his execution would devastate their parents, who have significant health problems.

“I’m going to lose everybody if this goes through,” Jones said, telling the board she fears her parents won’t be able to live through the pain of losing their son.

Jeffrey’s father, Bert Weisheit, a former law enforcement officer, recalled treating the children as grandchildren.

“Alyssa and Caleb were grandchildren,” Bert Weisheit said. “They were a lot of fun to be with. Very smart children.”

Deacon Brian Nosbusch, who has ministered to Weisheit for about 13 years, described his conversion to Catholicism and his efforts to serve other prisoners through his work as a porter and small purchases for those around him.

“I have seen a deep remorse that goes far beyond regret for the consequences that he faced, and I believe it was a true commitment to moral repair and reconciliation,” Nosbusch said. “We pray both for those that he has hurt, and we also pray for his family.”

At a news conference afterward, Perkovich said the defense was asking state officials to consider Weisheit’s moral culpability rather than excuse the killings.

“We don’t contest that he is responsible in the way we understand that,” Perkovich said. “What we’re getting at is a question of blameworthiness.”

Board member Mia Kelsaw questioned whether Weisheit would accept treatment and adjust to another prison setting if his sentence were commuted.

“What we would urge, and we would do everything in our power as his counsel, is to work with DOC with regard to its classification and treatment,” Perkovich said.

Even so, he acknowledged the difficulty of treating someone who does not recognize his own illness but said the legal team would help corrections officials pursue care.

“If that were not to succeed, there are other means (allowed) to provide for his care and for the safety of everybody else,” Perkovich said.

Brain scan litigation continues

Weisheit’s attorneys have asked the Indiana Supreme Court to authorize transportation for MRI and PET scans and move his execution date from Nov. 5 to Nov. 19, allowing time for analysis they say could inform Braun’s clemency decision.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker approved funding for potential testing but ruled Oct. 7 that she lacked authority to compel state officials to transport Weisheit to gather evidence for a state clemency proceeding.

The attorney general’s office opposed transportation and a delay in a Friday filing, arguing there was no legal basis for the order and further testing might produce no relevant new information. The court received a defense reply Monday, but the clerk noted it exceeded length limits and lacked a request to file an oversized document.

Perkovich said a separate reprieve application would seek a pause in executions to examine Indiana’s procedures and drug procurement following Tennessee’s failed execution attempt of Christa Pike on Sept. 30.

He suggested the states might share a supplier.

“There’s a whole litany of considerations that are shrouded in secrecy under state law, and secrecy laws are typical in capital (punishment) states,” Perkovich said. “But what is atypical and what is extraordinary in Indiana’s is the blanket that they put over any ability to make sense of what the state actually does to carry out the punishment.”

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Indiana farmers facing steep increases in building assessments are calling for changes to the state’s property valuation system, warning lawmakers Wednesday that similar structures are being assessed differently across county lines.

Indiana Farm Bureau representatives told the Interim Study Committee on Fiscal Policy that updated state cost tables have pushed up the assessed values of barns, grain bins and livestock facilities ahead of next year’s tax bills.

They urged lawmakers to address those discrepancies rather than leave individual property owners to challenge their assessments.

State officials acknowledged the concerns but cautioned that assessment changes alone would not resolve complaints about rising tax bills. They instead recommended preserving annual adjustments while improving assessment data and testing automated valuation tools.

Lawmakers also raised concerns about longtime homeowners whose assessments climb as new or renovated houses change the surrounding market, and questioned whether new technology could help catch errors before taxpayers have to appeal.

The committee additionally heard an update on Indiana’s childcare voucher programs and proposals to finance expanded access ahead of the 2027 budget session. Discussions focused on sustaining the state’s recent voucher expansion and drawing more investment from employers, philanthropy and local governments.

Farm building increases draw concerns

Katrina Hall, Indiana Farm Bureau’s senior director of policy strategy and advocacy, said the organization commissioned Policy Analytics to examine agricultural building assessments after members began reporting large increases earlier this year.

The analysis initially showed a statewide increase of about 44% in assessed value for the agricultural buildings studied, she said. Later data, reflecting appeals and discussions with assessors, reduced that increase to 29% — still about $2 billion in additional assessed value for taxes payable in 2027.

More than half of the parcels in the later analysis had increases of at least 15%, Hall said. The figures show how much assessed values increased, not how much farmers’ tax bills will rise.

Hall said the discrepancies suggest a problem with statewide consistency. Some assessors made adjustments to the cost tables, she said, while others appeared to use them without similar changes. Identical buildings of the same age can consequently receive different values in neighboring counties.

She argued that appeals cannot substitute for correcting the underlying assessment process.

“Appeals are like a parcel at a time,” Hall said. “They are not fixing problems with assessing in the tax base.”

Farm Bureau wants the state to consider a nationally recognized valuation system, like Marshall & Swift, and examine outdated depreciation schedules. Hall said taxpayers seeking to challenge assessments often get appraisals using that system, creating a mismatch with the state’s tools.

The organization also proposed moving agricultural improvements from the 3% property tax cap category to the 2% category. Hall said its analysis estimated about $44 million in savings across agricultural properties.

That would be a tax relief change separate from revisions to assessment methods.

The proposals follow Indiana’s 2025 property tax overhaul, which changed homeowner deductions and credits, business personal property taxation and local government revenue rules.

A subsequent Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute analysis found that most homeowners would likely receive relief, but owners of low-value homes could face increases while more expensive homes received larger breaks.

State defends annual adjustments

Tim Rushenberg, general counsel for the Department of Local Government Finance, said Indiana can change its assessment tools, but the results must still meet constitutional requirements for uniform, equal and just valuations.

The department’s report explains that assessed value is only one part of a property tax bill, which also depends on local budgets, tax levies, deductions, credits and caps.

“An individual parcel can see a higher bill even when the district rate falls, or a lower bill despite increasing gross assessed value,” Rushenberg said. “There’s a lot of moving parts, so there is no reliable shortcut from gross assessed value to taxpayer impact.”

Annual adjustments, commonly called trending, help keep assessments aligned with market evidence between physical reassessments, he said.

Less frequent updates could reduce annual changes but allow inequities to accumulate and produce larger increases when properties are eventually reassessed. Limits tied to purchase prices or annual assessment growth could also raise constitutional questions if comparable properties receive different treatment.

Cost tables provide a common starting point for estimating property values, Rushenberg continued, but their results must remain open to challenge using credible evidence.

Barry Wood, the department’s assessment division director, said the state previously updated cost schedules once every four years. It’s moving toward annual review of the schedules or a related adjustment factor to help limit large fluctuations.

Rushenberg said the department wants construction costs, appraisals and other evidence to evaluate whether particular agricultural building schedules need correction. Public comments on readoption of the state’s real property assessment rule close Oct. 23.

“We want to look at the data,” Rushenberg said. “We’ve asked for data to see where, maybe in the cost schedule, something isn’t adding up there. But we certainly don’t want to make a general assumption that an entire schedule is is incorrect.”

Homeowners face hurdles, too

Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, raised concerns about longtime homeowners whose assessments rise as new or renovated houses elevate housing prices, even when they have made no improvements themselves.

She urged officials to make the process easier to understand and reduce the need for homeowners to challenge inaccurate values.

“We live it, and so it’s easy for us, but it’s not easy for the average person, particularly if you’re an older individual,” Pryor said.

Wood said assessors can distinguish between different types and ages of homes within a neighborhood when applying adjustments.

Automated valuation models could help identify inconsistencies requiring closer review, said Hamilton County Assessor Kevin Poore. An assessor-led pilot is underway in Hendricks, Clark, Lake, Vanderburgh, LaPorte and Allen counties.

The department recommended beginning with an advisory or quality-control pilot, retaining local assessor judgment and taxpayers’ notice and appeal rights.

Still, Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, pressed for clear error measures and analysis of who would pay more or less before broader implementation.

“Anytime you bring a new model, you have to refine that system to be sure that there are no unintended consequences,” Qaddoura said.

Childcare funding debate continues

Also Wednesday, Adam Alson, director of the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning, said Gov. Mike Braun intends to continue the voucher expansion supported by a one-time $200 million infusion announced this spring.

“The additional 14,000 CCDF vouchers are funded solely with state dollars and for one fiscal year,” Alson said. “The governor is committed to continuing this increase in enrollment, and as such, this additional investment and allocation will be reflected in its upcoming budget.”

September figures presented to the committee showed 46,579 children enrolled across the Child Care and Development Fund and On My Way Pre-K programs, with 17,732 on their combined waitlists.

Regulated childcare capacity nevertheless fell about 3.3% from a year earlier, to 156,151 seats.

Alson said the administration is pursuing regulatory changes and additional ways for employers, philanthropy and local governments to invest.

Whitney Coake, a Taft public affairs director speaking on her own behalf, proposed a “QuadShare” framework combining employer, taxpayer, state and philanthropic contributions. It would fund expanded childcare assistance, 12 weeks of paid parental leave and an early care trust fund.

Her model estimated about $1.74 billion in annual operating expenses, separate from proposed trust fund deposits. Financing would include a 0.3% employer payroll contribution and a 0.15 percentage-point increase in the individual income tax rate. Philanthropic contributions and investment returns remain proposed or illustrative.

Alson emphasized that communities need flexibility to develop approaches suited to their families and employers.

“There are places throughout the state that are saying this is important,” he said. “How do we figure out how we do it?”

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WARSAW — Ongoing property tax reforms in Indiana are expected to affect local tax revenues, and as a result, state law now requires counties to assemble a special committee that will consider raising local income tax. 

The special committee is known as MUST, which is short for a Municipal Unit Strategic Task Force, and representatives of all taxing units in the county are expected to gather at 8.30 a.m. Thursday at the courthouse in Warsaw.

Kosciusko County Councilman Joe Irwin, who was chosen to organize the meeting, said the MUST Committee has until 2028 to make a decision.

“The hope is that everybody's in good enough shape that we don't have to do anything. That's at least my hope,” Irwin said Tuesday.

The complicating factor is that the Republican-led General Assembly is expected to consider significant changes to tax policy when they meet in January.

“The county's stance is that there are two more legislative sessions between now and then, and we'd really like to see what the state ends up doing. They've made it pretty clear they're not done tweaking things," he said.

Thursday's MUST meeting is open to the public. Representatives from across the county are expected to attend.

“We all want to know where we're at. So I think it's important that everybody's there and that we have these conversations,” Irwin said.

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State officials are planning to launch an anonymous tip line regarding safety concerns that will be available for all K-12 schools starting in January.

The line will be monitored 24 hours a day, year-round as part of what will be a $1 million investment to ensure all schools have access to a platform for reporting possible safety issues, the governor’s office announced Friday.

Enrollment in the program is optional and will be offered to all schools at no cost.

“Students, staff and families will be able to anonymously report bullying, threats, violence or concerns about someone who may be struggling,” Gov. Mike Braun said. “Every Hoosier student deserves a safe place to learn. So, if you’re worried about yourself or someone else, speak up.”

The state’s Office of School Safety will hold outreach and education sessions with schools about the program over the coming months.

“Safety concerns do not stop when the school day ends,” Office of School Safety Director Julie Smith said. “This will provide 24/7/365 monitoring by trained safety specialists, with urgent concerns escalated to designated school officials and emergency responders when necessary.”

Braun created the Office of School Safety last year as part of his public safety agenda. The new office absorbed Indiana’s Secured School Safety Board in overseeing millions of dollars in annual safety grants awarded to schools.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita operates a separate anonymous reporting system — Eyes on Education — that focuses on alleged inappropriate curriculum or staff actions. It includes issues involving LGBTQ+, so-called critical race theory, discrimination and Charlie Kirk comments.

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Skyrocketing highway construction costs in Indiana don’t just come down to inflation, state and industry leaders say.

Indiana spent an average of $46 million to construct a centerline mile of interstate highway in the 2026 state fiscal year, which ended in June. That’s up nearly 450% from the $8.4 million average recorded in the 2015 fiscal year, according to a slide shared in a late August meeting of the State Budget Committee.

“That’s unbelievable,” Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said.

The figures represent centerline miles built as part of full reconstruction or added travel lane plans. Some years had more or less of those projects, or “none at all,” Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Garrett said.

Costs include the lane replacements and additions, widened and rebuilt shoulders, barrier walls and guardrails, traffic and drainage control, materials, labor and more. Garrett offered inflation in material costs, supply chain shortages and even the pandemic as factors.

Other states are seeing higher costs, too. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Allen Blair acknowledged increases but said costs differ by project and are difficult to compare across states.

However, Indiana is “unique,” Garrett said: the state is building additional capacity where others are focused on highway maintenance or federal bridge funding.

What and where

Indiana is tackling bigger projects now, leading to higher costs, said Brian Gould, the executive director of Build Indiana Council.

After the General Assembly approved a major road-funding law in 2017, he said the industry was largely asked to perform “pretty basic” resurfacing. Contractors milled off the top two inches of spent asphalt and put down another two to four inches of fresh material.

Since then, Gould said, the state has shifted from resurfacing to a variety of major capital projects, often near large metropolitan areas.

“Those are really your two biggest factors when it comes to cost: what what do you want us to build, to what scale, and where do you want it located at?” Gould said.

INDOT’s average in the last fiscal year included two particularly complicated projects: Revive I-70 in Wayne County and the Safer Drive 65 in Scott and Clark counties.

“Both of these projects require complex maintenance of traffic set-ups to sustain high traffic volumes on I-70 and I-65 during construction, which adds to the cost,” Garrett said.

Urban work is typically more expensive: more front-end engineering to manage the higher displaced vehicle traffic, more lanes of work to do, more barriers to protect workers and more, pricier materials.

Major interstate and bridge work is “very heavy on the steel and very heavy on the concrete side — and those are two materials specifically that we’ve seen a huge increase in cost over the last five years or so, in part due to inflation, tariffs (and) just the demand for those materials,” Gould said. 

The Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index tracks the impacts of price changes for asphalt, base stone, bridges, concrete, drainage, electrical and more. The index rose by more than 60% from 2020 through 2025.

Road builders are also competing with other big developers — like data centers.

“We’ve had kind of a booming economy here in Indiana, and data centers are consuming as much concrete and steel and asphalt as job sites are, so we’re competing against them as well,” Gould said. “… The cost of the equipment that we use on our projects, it’s challenging to find them right now because data centers are consuming a lot of them.”

Controlling costs

INDOT uses a variety of strategies to manage expenses, per Garrett.

Projects are competitively bid, and the agency must generally pick the lowest-priced proposal.

The agency also uses “alternative delivery” methods that get contractors involved pre-construction.

“This early involvement is most useful on complex projects as it has shown to enhance risk mitigation, accelerate delivery, increase industry collaboration, incentivize design innovations and provide greater cost certainty through all phases of project development,” Garrett said.

INDOT additionally bundles its projects within contracts based on timing, location and other needs. Garrett said bundling helps with more than spending, by limiting traffic impacts to drivers.

She touted Indiana as the only state in the country that maintains 20-year asset management plans for infrastructure like pavement, bridges, drainage and more. INDOT uses the plans to “intervene early and often” with lower-cost maintenance instead of leaving assets to decline until they need to be totally replaced at a higher cost, Garrett said.

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County was particularly hard hit by a storm that swept through northern Indiana early Sunday night.

Strong winds and heavy rain battered the area, leaving an estimated 15,000 customers without power, according to PowerOutage.com.

As of 5:30 a.m., NIPSCO and Kosciusko REMC reported that about 900 customers were still without electricity. Fort Wayne also experienced significant outages, with over 8,000 customers affected.

Surrounding counties reported far fewer outages.

In total, approximately 5,000 customers across Indiana were without power, while 23,000 in Michigan were also affected.

The National Weather Service indicated that additional rain and storms are possible on Monday and tonight, and a flood watch remains in effect until 11 a.m.

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WARSAW — The notion of Indiana replacing property taxes with a sales tax on services prompted plenty of questions and concerns Friday in Warsaw.

[caption id="attachment_134175" align="alignright" width="370"] State Rep. J.D. Prescott (left) fields questions from a crowd Friday night. Also pictured to the right is State Rep. David Abbott. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

State Rep. J.D. Prescott, author of the legislation, led the discussion and fielded questions for nearly two hours.

State Rep. J.D. Prescott, author of the legislation, led the discussion and fielded questions for nearly two hours.

His plan calls for the phase-out of residential, business, and agricultural property taxes, replacing them with a 7 percent sales tax that would include several exceptions, including one for health care services.

Under his plan, primary residences would no longer be taxed as soon as 2028.

Based on an analysis by the Legislative Services Agency, Prescott projects the sales tax would generate about $13 billion to $15 billion, compared to property taxes that bring in about $11.6 billion.

The additional money collected under the proposed tax would be needed to create a reserve fund that would address anticipated shortfalls during economic downturns when sales revenues typically decline, Prescott said.

One person asked if the transition would tarnish the state's reputation for having low taxes. Prescott countered by suggesting that it would attract business by becoming the only state to get rid of property taxes.

Ramifications would be extensive if adopted.

The transition would eliminate the use of tax increment finance districts, which have become a key tool for economic development and are relied upon heavily by cities and towns.

Upon passage of the bill, there could be no new debt tied to the property tax system, no new TIF districts and no new school referendum, Prescott said.

The issue would be further complicated by existing agreements for bonding projects financed with TIF dollars that often extend as long as 20 years.

Sales revenues would eventually fill that void, but Prescott said existing agreements could not be negated.

Future economic development would be controlled by cities and counties, and it would be up to them to decide on how much they want to allocate toward economic development from incoming sales tax revenues, he said.

That led to a lengthy discussion about the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which has been under scrutiny in the past two years over its policies and practices. A regional director for Braun attended the meeting and offered several clarifications on the issue.

More than one person said the state is not doing enough to reform the office and claimed some of the projects are not necessary or appropriate.

Another change: If enacted, county assessor offices, which calculate assessments used for the basis of property taxes, would no longer be needed.Still unresolved is how townships would be handled, Prescott said.

Many of those asking questions Friday were county officeholders.

Two elected officials with Fulton County said such a quick transition would present a complicated scenario on top of challenges happening under the current policy shift.

While Prescott's plan was met with many questions, sentiment over the existing system was a continuing theme, with some saying spending practices need to be reviewed by a localized version of the federal government's short-lived program known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Some at the meeting found the opportunity to consider a rehaul of the tax system to be refreshing.

Kosciusko County Councilman Wil Stockdale attended the meeting. He is among many who dislike the fact that property taxes continue after mortgages are paid off.

“We don't want to rent from the government, so getting rid of property taxes entirely, if it's economically feasible, is a cool idea,” Stockdale told Prescott.

“I just want you to know that we do really appreciate you being here, for all the heat that you take, for having ideas, because obviously the system is not working right now,: Stockdale said.

"Anything is probably a step in the right direction unless it's just absolutely bonkers," he said.

Kosciusko County Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchell, who has worked in county and township government her entire adult life, attended the meeting. Afterward, she cautioned against moving too quickly.

"I believe they need to take a step back, they need to breathe,” Mitchell said.

“We hurried in  (2025) into Senate Bill 1, and then we tried to straighten it out in ‘26 — and it's still not straightened out — and here we are in ‘27 with yet another different plan,” Mitchell said.

“I believe that they need to take a breath, figure out what they're doing wrong … and have some certainty that what you're doing is right, instead of all the what-ifs,” Mitchell said.

She said the plan should be sent to a legislative study committee for a review.

Prescott voted for Braun’s property tax reform, and said at the time that it was not enough.

“We got as much as we could do. I voted for it because it did slow down the bleeding in some cases, but I said at the beginning it was just a band-aid to a larger problem that we need to address," Prescott said.

"We need to have a long-term solution and not just nibble around the edges," he said.

Asked if there was a sense of urgency in addressing the issue, he replied:

“I want to fix the system. I want to quit playing around with these band-aids, just treating symptoms and treat the underlying disease.”

Prescott's meeting was organized in part by Republican State Reps. Dave Abbott and Craig Snow. Abbott attended, but Snow was unable due to a prior commitment. Neither Abbott nor Snow have endorsed the concept.

No Kosciusko Chamber officials attended the meeting. While numerous county officials attended, it did not appear anyone representing the city of Warsaw was there.

The meeting is part of a series across the state being held by Prescott.

Plans for Friday's meeting came to light locally on Wednesday.

Prescott’s bill could end up competing next year with another plan proposed by State Sen. Ryan Mishler, who wants to eliminate the homestead tax.

A public meeting about that plan is scheduled for Sept. 29 at the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion in Warsaw and will be hosted by Mishler and Snow.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, Indiana Congressman Rudy Yakym and Texas Congressman Pat Fallon introduced the Federal Lands Lawful Carry Act, that would end the blanket ban on carrying firearms inside buildings on federal lands.

Under current policy, visitors must disarm before entering facilities such as visitor centers, ranger stations, and restrooms, even if they are allowed to carry in all other parts of the park.

“Hoosiers who can lawfully carry shouldn’t lose that right when they step into a federal park building,” said Rep. Yakym. “This legislation closes a loophole that turns responsible gun owners into accidental criminals and lets park rangers focus on managing our public lands instead of enforcing unnecessary restrictions.”

“Americans’ Second Amendment rights are under assault, and we in Congress must do all we can to ensure that they retain their God given right to bear arms,” said Rep. Fallon.

“That includes the right to bear arms on Federal lands, including forests, National Parks, and lands held by the USACE. I have written Army Secretary Driscoll in the past requesting that he address this issue, and I am proud to join my colleague, Rep. Yakym on his bill that would codify Americans’ rights to carry on such lands.”

The bill is supported by Gun Owners of America, the National Rifle Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation.

Visitors to most federal lands may currently carry firearms in accordance with the laws of the state where the land is located. However, a blanket federal restriction prohibits carrying firearms inside buildings on that same land, including visitor centers, ranger stations, and restrooms. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) land goes further, banning firearms both on the land itself and within its buildings.

The policy is currently being challenged in federal court. Last month, the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition, joined by a Texas gun owner, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, contesting the ban on carrying firearms inside National Park Service buildings such as gift shops, bathrooms, and museums.

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Indiana K-12 schools must meet new standards before seeking approval to implement a four-day school week.

The model, once favored by rural schools due to a shortage of bus drivers, is spreading nationwide to urban and suburban districts seeking to recruit teachers and students by extending the school day, so students and staff can take Fridays off.

Schools can apply for a flexibility waiver through the Indiana Department of Education to move to a four-day school week.

Now, schools must earn an “A” grade through the state’s A-F accountability model to be considered for a four-day school week waiver.

That’s one of four minimum requirements outlined in House Enrolled Act 1266, which took effect July 1.

The Indiana Department of Education recently issued guidance to schools about the new criteria ahead of the coming school year.

Schools must also offer transportation for students who choose to attend a school operating on a five-day schedule, meet the state’s $45,000-a-year minimum teacher salary threshold, and offer enrichment and remediation at no cost to parents the day school is not in session.

The State Board of Education must then grant approval before a school can transition to a four-day week.

Vinton Elementary pilots four-day week

Vinton Elementary School is entering its third and final year piloting a four-day school week.

The Lafayette-area school, with an enrollment of 408, is the sole school in Indiana operating on a four-day schedule through the state Department of Education’s flexibility waiver for innovation.

School starts at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with dismissal delayed until 3:45 p.m. — a necessity to meet the required 54,000 minutes of instruction each year, which the school accomplishes in a mere 151 days compared to the typical 180 days.

Students attend class on Fridays only when a holiday falls on a Monday, so they don’t miss two days in one week.

The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates 850 school districts operate on a four-day schedule, saving their budgets an average of 0.4% to 2.5% a year.

Principal Cindy Preston is impressed by the results she’s seen thus far: Student disicplinary referrals are down from 495 before the pilot started to 293 referrals last school year.

Staff absences declined from 656 to 398 a year.

Eighty-nine percent of third graders passed their spring assessments last year, up from 73% when the school still operated five days a week.

And a clear majority of parents and staff report they are satisfied with the four-day schedule, Preston said.

Yet she looks at the new criteria and wonders whether Vinton will qualify for another waiver once the pilot expires.

The school already meets two of the four minimum standards for teacher salaries and transportation.

Students are provided free busing to other elementary schools within the Lafayette School Corporation if parents wish to keep them on a five-day schedule.

The YMCA offers on-site daycare at Vinton on Fridays, but few students participate.

Preston said she is exploring options to provide free onsite enrichment and remedial programming on Fridays to qualify for another waiver, but an “A” rating will be more difficult to achieve.

“We’re a high-poverty school,” she said. “We’re about 80-85% poverty, so hitting that mark is very hard. This will be my 15th year as principal here, and we’ve never reached that.”

A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education said waiver applications will formally open to other districts following the release of A-F grades later this school year.

The department prioritizes applications “that clearly center on student needs and include thoughtful engagement with families and school staff about the potential impacts,” said Courtney Bearsch, chief communications officer for the department.

Moving forward

Preston said she’s hopeful lawmakers will either grandfather Vinton in or revise the standards so the school can continue its four-day routine, even if it doesn’t receive an “A” rating this year.

The school applied for its initial flexibility waiver to make the district more attractive to families in neighboring districts.

While enrollment declined the first year, Preston said it rebounded the following year. Twenty-six percent of those new students transferred from a neighboring district, she said.

Initial staff concerns subsided as the year progressed, and the school no longer witnessed an influx of parents removing their child from school early for weekend trips, Preston said.

Teachers had time for deeper, uninterrupted instruction. The 90-minute reading block became 120 minutes, she said.

“Even though we’re squeezing five days (into four), teachers feel like they really do have a lot more wiggle room to do more hands-on, deeper dives into instruction instead of just hitting the surface.”

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