Eric Grossman

Hello, my name is Eric Grossman. Thank you for taking interest in my campaign. I want to explain a little about my background and why I am running for Tippecanoe County Auditor. I originally moved to Tippecanoe County to attend Purdue University, graduating with a degree in Aviation Technology in 2007. While attending Purdue, I began a career in real estate: building new homes, restoring rental properties and building my own real estate portfolio. I wanted to learn as much as possible about property valuation and have a pulse on local market trends, so I was thrilled to start working at the Assessor's office in 2008 entering sale disclosure information. I held a number of positions in the Assessor's office from 2008-2012 where I built mass appraisal systems, addressed appeals and navigated new valuation requirements stemming from legislation and constitutional amendments. 

 

I resigned from the Assessor's office in 2012 to focus on running a construction company that I co-founded. I had the privilege of restoring iconic historic buildings in downtown Lafayette. I became personally invested in the renovation of the classic "Sportsman" restaurant at 644 Main St. It was originally the family home of the founding Hanna family built in the 1840s. It was a pawn shop in the early 1900s and later one of the first KFC restaurants. Today, it is a bar/restaurant that i co-own - DT Kirbys. This is a great community to start a business and invest in real estate. It is also a great place to raise a family. I currently live in West Lafayette (unincorporated) with my wife Samantha and our daughters Olivia (12) and Hattie (9). 

 

Working in government, running my construction company, renting and maintaining my rental property & running a restaurant, I interact with a diverse cross section of the public. I ran for assessor in 2014 because assessments were opaque, there were no online record cards, no digital forms, no projects or reports online and no public maps (GIS systems). This stems from an office culture that did not respect the hard working public's time and resources; I know from experience how frustrating it is to make unnecessary visits to a government office to get records, ask questions or file forms. I campaigned on records cards and assessment data online and we accomplished that mission. The assessor's office has online, seamless forms to file personal property returns, assessment appeals, exemption applications and any form that can save some stamps or headache. We have dashboards to major valuation projects, reports and maps. The office culture is responsive to public needs and is committed to assessment equity. 

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The county auditor is the clerk to the County Commissioners and Council, the administrative and fiscal bodies in charge of the major financial decisions. The auditor should be a check and balance to ensure contracts, staffing and major purchases are not unnecessary or duplicative - but this is far from the case. The commission, council and auditor have become increasingly partisan, egregiously wasteful, dependant on expensive contractors and fail to maintain the presence to lead effectively.​ I ask for your vote because we need to hold Tippecanoe County's fiscal leadership accountable. The auditor's office is the accounts payable department and should be performing detailed audits of expenditures to identify and preclude duplicative, wasteful and fraudulent invoices. We cannot afford a rubber stamp when the system relies on checks and balances. The auditor's office should utilize digital workflows, online forms and dashboards to create an easy, online user experience. Local government is faced with declining revenue due to SB1 (from the 2025 legislative session) and we need leaders who have the experience and determination to facilitate a smaller, more efficient local government that delivers maximum transparency and ease of use. 

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I thank you for your time and I look forward to the opportunity to serve you.