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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Perry County Council, District 2

Voted on across Perry County, in district 2.

Find your exact ballotAll Perry County races

Who votes on this seat: Only voters who live in District 2 vote in this race. 2026 General Election Candidate List

What this office does

The county council is the county's fiscal body: it sets the county property tax rate, appropriates the money the county spends and fixes the pay and number of county employees [1, 2, 3]. Most councils have seven members, four elected from districts and three elected countywide (at large), though some larger counties elect all members by district [1, 4]. The board of commissioners runs county government day to day, while the council controls the money [5, 6]. Marion County has no separate county council; the 25-member Indianapolis City-County Council serves as the legislative body for the consolidated city-county government [7, 8].

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term
4 years, starting January 1 after the election; district seats and at-large seats are filled at alternating general elections [9]
Elected
On the partisan general-election ballot; in most counties four members are elected by district voters and three at large by the whole county, while counties of 400,000–700,000 residents elect seven members by district and opt-in counties of 185,000–300,000 elect nine by district [4, 1]. Every county council race on the 2026 state candidate list is a district seat [10]
At-large races
All three at-large seats are filled at the same election, so voters may choose up to three candidates and the top three vote-getters win; straight-ticket votes do not count in these multi-seat races [4, 11]
Term limit
None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a member may serve [9]
Qualifications
Must have lived in the county at least one year, and in the district (for a district seat) at least six months, before the election, and be registered to vote in the election district; a county employee who is elected must leave that county job on taking office [12, 13]
Pay
Set locally in the council's annual ordinance fixing the compensation of county officers and employees [3, 14]
On the 2026 ballot
368 races; 147 contested [10]
What the law puts in this job (13)
  • Serves as the county fiscal body under the name of the county council [1].
  • Sets the county property tax rate and other countywide rates not fixed by state law [2].
  • Appropriates county money; except as otherwise provided by law, money may leave the county treasury only under an appropriation the council makes [2].
  • Adopts the annual budget at a yearly meeting where the county auditor presents budget estimates; budget ordinances must be read on two separate days, and funding an item above the estimates takes a three-fourths vote [14].
  • Adopts a separate salary ordinance setting the pay of county officers and employees and the number of deputies and employees in each office, after considering the commissioners' recommendations [14, 3].
  • Sets pay schedules and job classifications paid from the county general, highway, park and other funds, except that each local health department board sets pay for its own staff [3].
  • Controls spending and revenue collection in the county, including special spending requests during the year [6].
  • Authorizes by ordinance the bonds that fund county road and bridge projects and can create a county housing authority by resolution [8].
  • Serves as the county legislative body as well as the fiscal body in Lake and St. Joseph counties [8].
  • Declares a commissioner's seat vacant when the commissioner moves out of the county or district, and in certain cases can remove a county commissioner from office [15, 13].
  • Becomes the body that adopts county local income tax rates under the 2025 SEA 1 overhaul, replacing local income tax councils; the change is now scheduled for ordinances adopted starting July 1, 2028 [16, 17].
  • Has its adopted budget, tax rate and levies reviewed by the state Department of Local Government Finance, whose county budget order certifies the approved budget, tax rate and levy for each fund [18].
  • Does not run county departments day to day; the commissioners provide administrative oversight and the council provides fiduciary oversight [5].

What has changed in this job lately

Changes in the law the next officeholder will work under, most distant first.

  1. 2023

    State law gave counties with 185,000 to 300,000 residents until September 1, 2023, to opt in to a nine-member council elected entirely from single-member districts [1, 4, 19].

  2. April 15, 2025

    Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 1, a property tax law he called historic tax relief; Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) called it a lose-lose and said it would cost local governments and schools up to $1.8 billion over three years [20].

  3. 2025

    SEA 1 rewrote county local income taxes: existing rates were set to be replaced by a new structure, local income tax councils were to be eliminated with the county fiscal body becoming the adopting body, the total county expenditure rate was capped at 2.9%, and cities and towns with at least 3,500 residents gained the power to adopt their own rate [16].

  4. March 12, 2026

    House Enrolled Act 1210 delayed the local income tax overhaul by one year; current ordinances now expire January 1, 2029, the repeal of local income tax councils and the levy freeze is also delayed a year, and counties may form a Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce with city and town representatives to negotiate revenue sharing [17, 21].

  5. 2026

    Senate tax committee chair Travis Holdman (R-Markle) said the delay aims for a more streamlined, tailored plan because counties are not all alike, while Amy Krieg of the organization representing cities and towns said the issue will be a multi-year discussion [21].

Perry County's numbers for this office

Legal Insights county office research (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Gateway budgets 2019-2026 and the indicator sources linked on each line.

This office's 2026 budget

$45,892

0.3% of the county's adopted 2026 budget · 16% more than 2019, before inflation

2019: $39,4252020: $40,7252021: $39,6702022: $39,4212023: $40,1812024: $46,8922025: $47,3922026: $45,892
2019 $39,4252026 $45,892
The year-by-year figures

Adopted budget, all funds, 2019-2026 (not adjusted for inflation)

  • 2019: $39,425
  • 2020: $40,725
  • 2021: $39,670
  • 2022: $39,421
  • 2023: $40,181
  • 2024: $46,892
  • 2025: $47,392
  • 2026: $45,892

Budget lines counted: 0061 COUNTY COUNCIL

Adopted 2026 county budget (Form 1 line items, Form 4B) and earlier years' budgets

All members combined, 2026 budget lines (presidents are often paid more)

$33,481

From the county budget; verify against the county's 2026 salary ordinance. A line can include longevity pay or a second role.

Also on the record for this office

  • SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-296,770 (LSA)
  • MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
  • wheel tax: none found
  • fiscal consultant named in records: other/in-house

Measured, for this county

A position compares this county with counties of similar size. It is not a grade: for most measures a higher or lower number is neither good nor bad on its own.

General Fund cash, in days of spending · 2025

144 days

End-of-2025 General Fund cash divided by a year's disbursements, times 365.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council and commissioners jointly): spending and appropriation decisions

Position 28 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of the 2025 General Fund budget spent · 2025

99.0%

Actual General Fund spending divided by the certified budget.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council appropriates; commissioners and officers spend)

Position 15 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County debt per resident · 2025

$79.94

Debt outstanding at the end of 2025 (annual financial report).

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council authorizes borrowing; commissioners initiate many projects)

Position 10 of 17 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Budget growth, 2023 to 2026 · 2023-2026

+18.9%

Adopted budget, all funds, not adjusted for inflation.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council adopts the budget)

Position 19 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

SEA 1 estimate for 2028 · 2028 (LSA estimate)

-5.4%

Legislative Services Agency estimate of the county government's revenue change under the 2025 property tax law, compared with prior law.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set by state law (SEA 1-2025); local rate choices from 2028 change the outcome

Position 15 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Property tax cap credits · 2026

11.1%

Tax-cap (circuit breaker) credits as a share of the 2026 levy: revenue the county does not collect because of the caps.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set mainly by the constitutional caps and the combined rates of all units in the county

Position 6 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Local income tax share of county revenue · 2026

41.4%

How much of the county's revenue comes from local income tax.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: partial: the council adopts local income tax rates within limits set by state law

Position 14 of 30 counties with under 25,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Meeting minutes online · 2026-10

Posted as text

Whether the council's or commissioners' minutes are posted online (the better of the two), checked Oct. 2026.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (commissioners and council decide what they post)

About this race

  • Mendy Lassaline (D) faces Roger D Peter (R) for the District 2 seat [10]. The Perry County Council has seven members: four elected by district and three at large [24].
  • Seat history: Stan Goffinet held District 2 from January 2023 [23]. Commissioners' minutes from December 2025 describe him as a former council member [25]. A Roger Peter appears as a council member in July 23, 2026 minutes [27]. Because the county website still lists Goffinet [24], and no appointment or caucus record was found, who formally holds the seat today and whether the Republican nominee is the same person as that council member could not be confirmed.
  • Primary: Lassaline was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary with 255 votes. No Republican appeared on the primary ballot for this seat [31]; Roger D Peter appears on the state general-election list [10], and how he was nominated was not found.
  • Budget and taxes: the Perry County Council adopted a 2026 budget of $13,663,054 by a 7-0 vote on October 9, 2025 [28]. The certified (Form 4) figures list a General Fund budget of $6,089,767 with a $4,136,720 levy and a proposed rate of 0.5819, and a combined proposed rate of 0.7534 for the levied funds, which the council president noted could change on state (DLGF) review [32]. At the September 11, 2025 budget meeting the Auditor said the advertised levy funds were $99,587 over what the county could levy and had to be reduced [33].
  • Property taxes and SEA 1: at the June 26, 2025 council meeting member Brad Harth said the county would be in a 'belt-tightening mode due to SEA 1' [34]. On July 23, 2026, council president Kelli Harding said that with 2027 revenue estimates not yet known, private groups would not be invited to present 2027 budget requests until department requests and employee wages were addressed; other members agreed [27].
  • Economic development: in October 2025 the council confirmed real and personal property tax abatements for a proposed Webb Wheel Products expansion in Tell City (about $15 million in real property and about $42 million in personal property investment, per the county's consultant) [35]; in December 2025 the consultant said the company's site selector had not yet given a decision [36].
  • Public safety: in December 2025 the council used unrestricted opioid settlement funds to buy sheriff's vehicles [36]. In July 2026, after a state cut to Community Corrections funding that the county was told eliminated drug court funding, the commissioners (2-0) and council (7-0) set aside $103,328 in restricted opioid funds to keep the Perry County Drug Court running for about two years [37, 27].
  • Roads: the council president reported in December 2025 that the county's first-round 2026 Community Crossings road-grant application was denied; the state cited an application error involving road names, and the county expected to reapply [36].
  • No candidate forum, debate or questionnaire for this race was found as of October 11, 2026.

Who holds this seat now

Roger Peter (Not confirmed) — not on this ballot.

The District 2 seat was held from January 2023 by Stan Goffinet, who is still listed on the county website [22, 23, 24]. County commissioners' minutes from December 2025 refer to Goffinet as a former council member [25, 26]. Council minutes from July 23, 2026 name a Roger Peter as a council member [27]. The minutes reviewed do not record his appointment, which seat he fills or his party, and do not confirm that he is the Republican nominee Roger D Peter, though the names match. Goffinet is not on the 2026 ballot [10].

Peter's record in the job

  • Stan Goffinet (former District 2 member, 2023-2025): October 9, 2025, made the motion to adopt the 2026 county budget of $13,663,054, which passed 7-0 [28].
  • Stan Goffinet: September 25, 2025, seconded the motion to approve the declaratory resolution for the Webb Wheel real property tax abatement, which passed 6-0 [29].
  • Stan Goffinet: February 27, 2025, said he felt the council needed to start making cuts through attrition [30].
  • December 2, 2025: The commissioners' minutes say Goffinet had resigned from the Convention and Visitors Bureau board and describe him as a former council member; Brad Harth was later appointed to complete that CVB term [25, 26]. The reason for his departure from the council was not found.
  • Roger Peter: named as a council member in the July 23, 2026 minutes, the first reviewed minutes to do so; no motions or statements by him are recorded there [27].

Candidates on the ballot

Mendy Lassaline

Democratic

Democratic nominee for District 2 and the current Perry County Assessor, who has worked with the commissioners and council on the county's property reassessment contract and budget [38, 39, 31].

Lassaline's background

  • Perry County Assessor; the Perry County Democratic Party lists her as the Democratic assessor elected in 2022, and 2025 county minutes identify her as Assessor [39, 40, 38].
  • She told the commissioners in October 2025 that her office has used Tyler Technologies for reassessment work since 2004 [38].

Lassaline's positions

Property taxes & SEA 1

  • As Assessor, said in August 2025 that the cyclical reassessment is paid from the separate reassessment fund with its own tax rate, and that on-the-ground review catches remodeled homes that would otherwise mean lost revenue [40].
  • In October 2025, when a commissioner proposed exploring cheaper aerial-photo (flyover) services instead of the Tyler Technologies reassessment bid, she said she had looked into pictometry for years and the county could not afford it, that using five-year-old state flyover images would lose assessed value, and that decisions about her office should include her input; the commissioners later tabled the contract [38, 25].

Budget & taxes

  • According to the Auditor, she agreed at budget time to cut an office-supply line so the county could stay within its maximum levy, then sought a $2,000 appropriation in August 2025, which the council tabled pending more documentation [41].

How Lassaline got on the ballot

  • Won the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary unopposed with 255 votes [31].

Lassaline's endorsements and funding

  • No endorsements or campaign-finance reports were reviewed for this profile.

What we could not find about Lassaline

  • No 2026 campaign statements on council issues (budget, SEA 1, EMS, roads) were found; her positions above come from her work as Assessor.
  • Her Assessor term end date and whether she is seeking re-election as Assessor were not confirmed.
  • Perry County News coverage could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • Campaign finance reports were not reviewed.
  • No campaign website, questionnaire or interview was found.
  • No statement by Lassaline about the District 2 seat's current or former holder was found.

Sources for Lassaline

Roger D Peter

RepublicanIncumbent

Republican nominee for District 2 [10]. His BallotReady profile lists Waupaca Foundry as his work; no campaign statements or coverage were found [42].

Peter's background

  • His BallotReady candidate profile lists Waupaca Foundry as his professional experience, without a job title [42].

How Peter got on the ballot

  • Was not on the May 5, 2026 primary ballot, which listed no Republican candidate for this seat [31]; he appears on the state general-election list [10]. How he was nominated was not found.

Peter's endorsements and funding

  • No endorsements or campaign-finance reports were reviewed for this profile.

What we could not find about Peter

  • Possible match, not confirmed: July 23, 2026 Perry County Council minutes list a council member named Roger Peter; the minutes do not identify him further, and no source reviewed confirms that this is the ballot candidate, which seat that member holds, or how he joined the council [27].
  • Positions are unknown; work history comes only from a self-reported BallotReady profile.
  • How he reached the general-election ballot could not be confirmed.
  • Perry County News coverage could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • Campaign finance reports were not reviewed.
  • No campaign website, questionnaire or interview was found.
  • No statement by Peter about the seat's former holder was found.

Sources for Peter

Key points

  • Budget and taxes: the Perry County Council adopted a 2026 budget of $13,663,054 by a 7-0 vote on October 9, 2025. (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  • Perry County government adopted a $14.0 million budget for 2026, about $722 per resident; that is +18.9% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)
  • Legislative Services Agency estimate: the 2025 property tax law (SEA 1) changes the county government's net property tax levy by -5.4% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Indiana Code 36-2-3-2: County council as fiscal body; size (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  2. Indiana Code 36-2-5-2: Tax rates and appropriations (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  3. Indiana Code 36-2-5-3: Compensation of officers and employees (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  4. Indiana Code 36-2-3-4: Council districts and at-large members (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  5. Commissioners Responsibilities (Boone County, Indiana)
  6. About the County Council (Hancock County, Indiana)
  7. Indiana Code 36-2-3-1: Application of chapter (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  8. County Government Overview: Indiana (National Association of Counties (NACo))
  9. Indiana Code 36-2-3-3: Election and term of fiscal body (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  10. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  11. Monroe County voters put three incumbent Democrats back on county council (The B Square Bulletin (Dave Askins))
  12. Indiana Code 3-8-1-22: Candidates for county council (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  13. 2026 Indiana Candidate Guide (Indiana Election Division)
  14. Indiana Code 36-2-5-11: Annual budget, tax rate and salary ordinances (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  15. Indiana Code 36-2-2-5: Qualifications and residency of members; district or countywide election (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  16. Major Changes to Expenditure Rate of LIT in SEA 1 (2025) (Barnes & Thornburg LLP)
  17. Legislation Affecting Local Income Taxes (memorandum on HEA 1210-2026) (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  18. County Specific Information (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  19. Indiana Code 36-2-2-4: Commissioner districts (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  20. Gov. Mike Braun signs 'historic' property tax relief bill into law, critics call it a 'lose-lose' (Indiana Public Media (Brandon Smith))
  21. Delay in local income tax changes sets up more legislative debate next year (Indiana Capital Chronicle via Indiana Public Media (Tom Davies))
  22. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2022-12-15 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  23. Perry County Council minutes, joint/organizational meeting, 2023-01-03 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  24. County Council (Perry County Government)
  25. Perry County Board of Commissioners minutes, meeting, 2025-12-02 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Board of Commissioners (Auditor's Office))
  26. Perry County Board of Commissioners minutes, organizational meeting, 2026-01-05 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Board of Commissioners (Auditor's Office))
  27. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2026-07-23 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  28. Perry County Council minutes, budget adoption meeting, 2025-10-09 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  29. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-09-25 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  30. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-02-27 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  31. Perry County Primary Election 2026 - Election Results (final, 11 of 11 voting locations) (Perry County, Indiana (election results))
  32. Perry County Council minutes, special meeting (Form 4), 2025-10-15 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  33. Perry County Council minutes, budget meeting, 2025-09-11 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  34. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-06-26 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  35. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-10-23 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  36. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-12-18 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  37. Perry County Board of Commissioners minutes, meeting, 2026-07-21 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Board of Commissioners (Auditor's Office))
  38. Perry County Board of Commissioners minutes, meeting, 2025-10-06 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Board of Commissioners (Auditor's Office))
  39. Elections & Officials (Perry County Democratic Party)
  40. Perry County Board of Commissioners minutes, meeting, 2025-08-19 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Board of Commissioners (Auditor's Office))
  41. Perry County Council minutes, regular meeting, 2025-08-28 (county minutes archive) (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
  42. Roger D Peter (candidate profile) (BallotReady)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.