One of my most difficult tasks as mayor is balancing the need for residents' services with the need for lower property taxes. I am confident the 2008 city budget I have proposed to the City Council strikes a good balance between these two goals.

There is no doubt the cost-cutting measures in the 2008 budget will be praised by some and criticized by others, but this budget represents a radical -- and necessary -- new approach to Hammond city government.

As all Hammond homeowners know, the property tax rate needs to be lowered.

What they might not know is the civil city (which the mayor oversees) makes up only one-third of the property tax bill. The other two-thirds are made up of the school city, county and township. Homeowners also might not be aware that Hammond tax rates have remained steady over the past four years. I am proud of this accomplishment in light of inflation, higher fuel costs and other fiscal pressures.

This November, Hammond homeowners will receive their tax bills for 2006, payable 2007. Judging from Hoosiers who have already received tax bills, the reaction here will not be good. Despite all the hard work my office and the City Council have done to keep taxes at a steady level, including the state's only city-mandated 2 percent property tax cap, Hammond taxpayers will share some of the same worry over increased taxes as the rest of the state.

There are many reasons for the increases you will see in your tax bills: the elimination of the inventory tax, trending of your home's market value, unfunded mandates from the Indiana General Assembly, as well as government inefficiencies, redundancies and duplications. The solution to the tax problem is not easy, but it is necessary.

First, the new budget proposes cutting personnel. After weeks of review, my department heads identified 80 positions that may be eliminated without reducing the quality of city services. This reform goes from the top down, with a spot even eliminated from the mayor's office. We cut 40 positions in 2005. I hope this will be the last reduction I will have to implement.

Second, the new budget proposes to eliminate redundancies in services. In other words, if the county or township provides a service, we propose the city no longer shoulder the burden for that same service.

Listen carefully to the debate over the proposed 2008 budget. Keep in mind that taxes cannot be reduced without real, significant cuts. Please ask your councilperson to consider taking measures to ensure the city budget is lowered so property taxes are lowered.

I also ask residents to challenge the other taxing entities to take a hard look at their own budgets. The mayor simply does not have the power to dictate reforms to other taxing entities. Only the voting public does.

Tough times call for tough decisions, and we in the civil city are willing to make those tough decisions. Hammond can and should be the standard for government reform and consolidation in Lake County.