Republican Lew Wilson has announced his candidacy for the office of State Representative for Indiana District 59 in the 2016 general election. He is challenging incumbent State Representative Milo Smith, who is serving his fifth term.

Wilson, the Bartholomew County Assessor, says he is running to reform “critical defects in the tax assessment and appeals process.” Wilson says that new state laws passed since 2011 have crippled the tax appeal process in a manner that hurts the county taxpayers as a whole and directly favors property tax representatives and tax lawyers. He says that these laws have cost Indiana cities and counties vital budget revenue that is needed to fund schools and to provide emergency services. Wilson argues that these laws also unfairly shift the additional tax burden to county residents. “These bills have created a revenue drain on cities and counties that will continue to burden tax payers for years to come unless they are changed,” says Wilson. He says he is running to help make those changes happen at the state level where they began.

Wilson adds that he supports the Pence administration’s efforts to eliminate conflicts of interest and ethics violations at all levels of state government. He says that he has personally seen the damage that has been done when lawmakers do not remove themselves from the legislative process when those laws have the potential to benefit them personally.

Wilson has served as the Bartholomew County Assessor for the past five years and as an Indiana Licensed Appraiser for 16 years. Wilson also serves as a legislative representative on both the Indiana County Assessors Association Board (ICAA) and the Association of Indiana Counties Board (AIC). He says that his experience gives him the understanding as to what needs to be done in order to restore balance to the property assessment and appeal processes.