Method, data gaps and sources

Whose job this is, on this ballot

Everything above is some office's responsibility, and most of those offices are on the ballot on Nov. 3. Below is which office does which part of it, what the law puts in the job, and what this study found about it.

• County Council Member 368 races on this ballot

  Adopts the county budget and the levy, and adopts the local income tax rates — including the 2028 rebuild, which every council must adopt between July 1 and Oct. 1 of 2028.

  In this study Councils were already deciding in 2025–26: about eight raised the income tax, roughly 35–40 took a documented step toward the county–city negotiation, and the hardest votes split 4–3 and 5–4.

• County Commissioner 94 races on this ballot

  The county's executive: contracts, buildings, highways and ordinances, including wheel taxes and zoning questions the council then funds.

  In this study Wheel taxes, jail and justice-center projects, and data-center moratoriums are commissioner-and-council business; 57% of commissioner races this year are uncontested.

• County Auditor 65 races on this ballot

  Keeps the county's books, applies every deduction and exemption to assessed value, certifies the net value to the state, and calculates the bills with the treasurer.

  In this study Auditors turned out to be the in-house analysts of the 2025 overhaul — in Jay, Shelby and Owen they led the income-tax and task-force work, and Madison's auditor warned publicly about rainy-day use and jail bonds.

• County Assessor 92 races on this ballot

  Values property, and moves values toward the market each year using sales data. Assessed value is the base every deduction and every tax cap is applied to.

  In this study State cost-table increases raised assessments sharply — Morgan +32% then +24%, Switzerland +35% — and assessors say they are understaffed for their parcel counts. Every county elects an assessor this year; seven of those races are contested.

• County Treasurer 15 races on this ballot

  Collects what is owed, holds and invests county cash, and makes the transfers between funds the state requires.

  In this study Cash position is now the live question: Floyd and Knox ended 2025 with about 44 days of general-fund cash, and Knox took $3.8M in loans from its rainy-day fund.

• County Sheriff 92 races on this ballot

  Runs the jail and the patrol division, and asks the council for the staff and the building to do it.

  In this study Jails and sheriffs take $1.04B of 2026 county budgets — the fastest-growing claim on them. Grant, Madison and Monroe hold about 30% more people than their stated limits; Allen, Howard, Madison and Monroe have jail projects of $100M to $270M. Every county elects a sheriff this year.

• Prosecuting Attorney 92 races on this ballot

  Charges and tries criminal cases for the circuit, and staffs the office the council funds.

  In this study Staffing is the recurring request: Vanderburgh asked for more than six new prosecutors, Howard for six deputies (tabled), and Tippecanoe has nine attorney vacancies. Hancock is pursuing pay parity between prosecutors and public defenders.

• Clerk of the Circuit Court 62 races on this ballot

  Runs elections and keeps the court's records.

  In this study Clerks appear in these minutes mostly through election costs and staffing; Lawrence made an emergency voter-registration hire in October 2026.

• County Coroner 22 races on this ballot

  Determines cause of death, and contracts the autopsies and forensic work the county pays for.

  In this study Jasper's coroner asked for a forensic center as part of a $2.08M five-year plan, and a 2026 law adds training requirements for coroners.

• School Board Member 632 races on this ballot

  Adopts the school corporation's budget and its own levy, and decides which buildings stay open.

  In this study Schools take about $0.42 of every property-tax dollar levied in Indiana. Enrollment is the pressure underneath: Elkhart is down 2,336 students since 2018–19 and is closing four elementary schools, and the 2025 overhaul dissolves Randolph County's Union School Corporation on July 1, 2027.

• Township Trustee 939 races on this ballot

  Runs township assistance and, in many townships, the fire service — on its own small levy.

  In this study Townships take about $0.03 of every property-tax dollar, and fire and EMS are where the most new county income-tax money is going: Carroll, Martin, Shelby, Steuben, Union and Wells all added rates for it.

Find which of these are on your own ballot.