Have we been struck with referendum madness?

Porter County Commissioners this week unanimously approved a referendum for the November ballot on whether county residents support the proposed $1 billion rail extension to Valparaiso.

Then on Thursday, the Indiana School Property Tax Control Board voted 6-3 to reject a proposed $165 million new high school in Hammond, and one board member suggested it be placed on the November ballot as a referendum question.

Seeking voter approval for every dime spent would bring government to a standstill, which seems attractive until you remember government includes more than the usual confederacy of dunces we have all come to know and subsidize.

Yet I see these as hopeful signs that when considering major capital projects, which will have long-lasting impact on people's taxes, that politicians ask those who will pay the bills whether they want the stuff in the first place.

Supporters of the rail project, which is expected to cost $1 billion to build and $10 million to $15 million annually in subsidies, have continually said polls (which they have sponsored) are overwhelmingly in favor of the expansion.

Commissioners Carol Knoblock, Bob Harper and John Evans signified by their votes they want a more impartial poll through a ballot referendum.

"The people of this area must be given the right to speak on this issue," Knoblock said.

The rail project may get people who hold high-dollar jobs in Chicago to relocate in Northwest Indiana, but that does not answer whether the people who have to pay for the "good idea" have a right to reject it being involuntarily pushed down their throats.

The construction of a new high school is even murkier. While school officials cite studies that show newer facilities result in higher test scores, real-life local experience does not bear that out.

East Chicago Central High School was the most expensive school per square foot in Indiana when it opened in 1986, yet from day one has consistently ranked among the state's worst schools in test scores and graduation rates.

Many East Chicagoans opt to send their children to nearby Bishop Noll Institute, the Catholic high school that despite its antiquity (its present campus opened in 1963) continues to outperform E.C. Central year in and year out.

The issue is as old as the United States itself, and some are again standing up and saying there should not be taxation without representation.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.