Will the CIB's New Found Wealth Get SB 90 a Hearing?

It's easier to follow the plot of Games of Thrones than it is to track the fortunes of the CIB.  Is today a day when the CIB is rich? Or, have they fallen once more on the verge of bankruptcy? 

Whenever budget time comes around, when a PILOT is discussed, or when  the Mayor's office gets an itching for an even bigger CIB slush fund - well, then the CIB is pennies away from bankruptcy court.  At those times, its a wonder Peter Francis Geraci hasn't been placed on their Board.

And, after pleading poverty in order to get their hands on two new tax increases, the CIB just yesterday managed to find $2 million for Lucas Oil Stadium improvements.  Maybe they found the money in the seat cushions.  At budget time they weren't sure they had enough money to get matching carpet for the older sections of the convention center.

This $2 million follows the additional $10 million ($5 million from 2012 funds and $5 million from 2013 funds) recently handed over to the Simons.  It seems the CIB was $12 million better off than they led us to believe.  Some might think they knew about these 'expenses' when they were protesting the $15 million PILOT levied against them by the Council Democrats.  That, of course, was before eight of the Council Democrats caved in and swapped the PILOT for two tax increases.  But, I digress.

Let's not forget who is running the show.  The Mayor gets 6 of the 9 appointments to the CIB.  The same Mayor who wants to neuter the Council (and gets most of the Republican Councillors' blessing to do so).  The same Mayor who puts out to the press the possibility that THIS next budget may have to include police and fire layoffs to make ends meet.  This same Mayor who is spending tens, if not hundreds of millions from TIF slush funds, Airport slush funds, and CIB slush funds to make certain people wealthy and help others climb higher on the Forbes richest people in the world list.  This Mayor's priorities are screwed up and he needs to be held accountable.

All the CIB stuff hitting the fan yesterday, made me wonder what happened to Senator Mike Young's bill to cut off the two recent CIB tax hikes after 10 years.  That's SB 90 and it seems to have cleared the Senate on a party line vote - Democrat Mark Stoops joined all Republicans in voting for the bill.  That was February 12.  On February 26 it was assigned to the House Ways & Means committee, where it appears lifeless.

Maybe the House will now find ample reason take action on this bill.  Its the least they can do to protect the public from paying taxes for frivolous items that will never benefit the community.

Increased Ticket and Car Rental Taxes, Mid-North TIF and Charter Schools - How They Voted

Last night the City-County Council voted to raise the admissions tax from 6 to 10% (Prop 23) and the car rental tax from 4 to 6% (Prop 24).

Councillor Cain, a Republican, was absent.

Admissions Tax Increase --

Voting for were Democrats Barth, Brown, Hickman, Lewis, Moriarty, Osili, Robinson & Talley and Republicans Shreve, Gooden, Holliday, Hunter, Lutz, McQuillen, Miller & Pfisterer

Voting against were Democrats Adamson, Evans, Gray, Mahern, Mansfield, Mascari, Oliver & Simpson and Republicans Freeman, McHenry, Sandlin & Scales

Car Rental Tax Increase --

Voting for were Democrats Barth, Brown, Hickman, Lewis, Moriarty, Osili, Robinson & Talley and Republicans Shreve, Freeman, Gooden, Hunter, McHenry, McQuillen, Miller &  Pfisterer

Voting against were Democrats Adamson, Evans, Gray, Mahern, Mansfield, Mascari, Oliver & Simpson and Republicans Holliday, Lutz, Sandlin & Scales 

Democrats each voted the same on each tax increase.  Republicans Freeman and McHenry voted no on the ticket tax and yes on the car rental tax, while Holliday and Lutz swapped with them to vote yes on the ticket tax and no on the car rental tax increases.

In both cases there were just enough votes to pass the two tax increases.  So, the new Councillor Shreve can be said to have cast the decisive vote each time.  Shreve's qualifications to serve as a Councillor have been called into question due to residency issues. [edited to add: I've had a brain meltdown - it takes 15 votes to pass an ordinance by a simple majority, so Shreve was a cushion of one vote]

Meanwhile, Prop 291, the Mid-North TIF that adds another square mile to Indy's already burdensome TIFs saw a motion to amend and a vote.

The bright star of the Council's freshman class, Zach Adamson, introduced an amendment to exclude the Broad Ripple parking garage from the TIF.  This garage is being built with $6.4 million of taxpayer funds, which we all were told would be recouped in property tax revenues.

The vote to amend was defeated, with 6 voting yes and 22 voting no.

Those voting yes were Democrats Adamson, Brown, Evans, Mahern & Oliver and Republican Scales

Those voting no were Democrats Barth, Gray, Hickman, Lewis, Mansfield, Mascari, Moriarty, Osili, Robinson, Simpson & Talley and Republicans Shreve, Freeman, Gooden, Holliday, Hunter, Lutz, McHenry, McQuillen, Miller, Pfisterer & Sandlin 

The vote to pass the proposal garnered 23 yes votes and 5 no votes, with Evans and Oliver siding with the yes votes and Holliday moving to the no vote camp.

Those voting for the TIF were Democrats Barth, Evans, Gray, Hickman, Lewis, Mansfield, Mascari, Moriarty, Oliver, Osili, Robinson, Simpson & Talley and Republicans Shreve, Freeman, Gooden, Hunter, Lutz, McHenry, McQuillen, Miller, Pfisterer & Sandlin 

Those voting against the TIF were Democrats Adamson, Brown & Mahern and Republicans Holliday & Scales

On the 4 Charter Schools proposals, here are those voting no on each:

Prop 429 (Excel Center Lafayette Square) Democrats Evans and Oliver

Prop 430 (Indiana Math and Science Academy - South) Democrats Evans, Lewis, Oliver & Robinson

Prop 432 (VBP Indy, Inc) Democrats Evans, Lewis, Oliver & Robinson

Prop 433 (Vision Academy) Democrats Evans, Lewis, Oliver & Robinson

All other Councillors (except Cain, who was absent) voted for.

Council Meets Tonight - Hold Onto Your Wallets

The City-County Council meets tonight.  Increasing your taxes and siphoning off property taxes from known future development to pay for corporate tax handouts instead of cops, are on the agenda.

The Council will vote on raising the local car rental tax from 4 to 6% (Prop 24) and raising ticket tax from 6 to 10% (Prop 23).  They will also vote on Prop 448, which puts back the nearly $32 million Mayor Vaughn slashed from County Office 2013 budgets; a move that made no fiscal sense, just created blackmail fodder.  These are all to have public hearings, as they are fiscal ordinances.

Prop 291, the Mid-North TIF, will be voted on as well, but no public hearing is to be held.  This plan specifically removes property taxes derived from the taxpayer-funded Broad Ripple parking garage from common good uses, like paying for public safety in places like Broad Ripple, to paying for public art near Broad Ripples innumerable bars and park upgrades to Tarkington Park.  Developer driven tax handouts are anticipated within the 1 square mile of the TIF district as well.  If things go well, Mapleton-Fall Creek, an actual area of need, just may get a project financed with TIF dollars.

Among the Proposals being introduced tonight is Prop 33, sponsored by Councillors Talley and Robinson, which directs DPW to use $3 million of its 2013 RebuildIndy funds for Avondale-Meadows infrastructure improvements.  This proposal is being offered to substitute for the expansion of the Fall Creek Place TIF which proponents hoped to use to attract a grocery store.  These proponents now suggest more investments of TIF dollars were also hoped for, once the grocery was in place and the TIF fund grew.   I do not know what those projects were expected to be or if they simply expected to spend any and all TIF dollars that amassed beyond the initials needs.

Also likely making an appearance is newly selected Councillor Jefferson Shreve, whose residency qualifications for that office were called into question over the weekend.  Selected Saturday morning, questions arise, trail of documents unearthed by Saturday afternoon.  Somewhere in that time, they GOP hastily swore Shreve in.  You can read all about it on the Advance Indiana and Ogden On Politics blogs.

Let's Recap Where We Are At This Moment - Or - How The Diversion of Tax Dollars For Special Interests Is Going

It just feels like a good time to recap where our City finances stand.  Let's face it, you simply have to follow the money if you want to know what the priorities really are.

For the first couple of years of the Great Recession, the City's funding actually went up.  Last year and this, resources shrunk slightly.  Contributing to that was the erroneous calculation of income tax receipts, which the State has corrected with a lump sum payback and which has been deposited into the rainy day fund to spend next year.

The amount of potential revenue caught in the tax caps is growing, causing an corresponding decrease in revenues that the City qualifies for, but cannot collect.  The growth in tax caps is being driven by the increase in the amount of property value being pushed into TIF districts.  TIF districts continue to struggle, on the whole, requiring bailouts, transfers, and increased taxes to cover debt payments.  The city has $80 million from RebuildIndy funds sitting in an account; its sole purpose to convince bond rating agencies that we have enough money to cover our debts, at least for one year.  Meanwhile, the airport tries to shake down bond holders of the United TIF deal to accept 10 cents on the dollar.

We see a City-County Council approve two TIFs last year - one for a burgeoning area seeing ever increasing private investment - growth that was the 'old fashioned way', through a free market.  We see a proposal for development of a very valuable, city-owned block, being granted to a group who wants the block for free, plus millions in taxpayer assistance; not to the group that asked for tax abatements, but who was actually willing to pay for the block.  This pulls tax revenue from all taxing units and causes a reduction in the services that can be provided for the common good.

We see a City-County Council ready to approve one new TIF, which covers some of the most affluent areas of the County, along with one area of actual need, to fund public art and park improvements as two of the named uses for tax funds.  BTW, they have the temerity to also complain about crime as they move to strip off tax dollars that would have gone to fund public safety.  This, too will pull much needed tax dollars away from the common good.  In fact, they will take more than $6 million of promised tax revenue from the Broad Ripple parking garage away from the common good to make life more fun for some of our toniest neighborhoods.

We see two new tax increases on the verge of being passed that will be split between the City and the CIB.  The State Legislature granted the ability to raise these taxes as the final step in the CIB bailout.  One might wonder, if the CIB doesn't need the money, why would you raise the taxes? 

We see the formation of a public safety task force whose sole purpose is to make a case for higher taxes - once the mass transit tax referendum passes out of the State Legislature.  As we pull more money from our resources that pay for the common good, crime will rise.  Fearful residents are more willing to support a tax increase to pay for police protection that the City could have afforded had our City Fathers and Mothers not diverted money into TIFs and stadiums.

We see yet another $10 million going to the Pacers and their billionaire owners, who already get all revenue from the facility we taxpayers built for them.  Another deal is likely already written, but which will be kept from the public until the tax increases are finalized.  Even the CIB gets tripped up simultaneously saying they have enough money to give more of it away and that they may have to declare bankruptcy.

We see heavy hints that the taxpayers will soon be asked to build one of the Mayor's biggest campaign contributors a $200 million soccer stadium.

What is clear is that we are moving money into accounts that pay for corporate welfare, payback for campaign contributors, and sports welfare.  We see accounts shrinking that pay for the public good - good parks, good schools, and public safety to name some.

That's what is happening folks.  Follow the money.  The priority is not the public; the very public that trusted these folks enough to vote for them.   The priority is not to make Indy a better place to live.  The priority is not the common good.

See Children? Extortion Works !

How do you get the Council Ds to agree to three tax increases, and to funneling money to City coffers from sources never intended to prop up the City budget?  Why you do exactly what Mayor Vaughn did - you slash funding for essential services not controlled by Republican office holders.

Of course, some Ds don't care if we raise taxes and funnel money that is intended for other uses, and some Rs just might privately disapprove.  Not that their vote will count.  Not that your voice and opinion in these matters will be of interest when the legally required hearings are held for show.

Here's what the press release has to say about the deal:

– Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard today announced an agreement with City-County Council President Maggie Lewis and the leadership of both caucuses on the framework of a long-term budget plan for the City. Pending approval by the full City-County Council, the agreement will result in the restoration of approximately $32 million in funding to county offices and cut the proposed budget deficit for 2014 to only $6 million.

 

According to the agreement:

 

• The Mayor and Council agree to restore $32 million in County Option Income Tax (COIT) revenue to the County General Fund.

• The Mayor and Council are committed to reducing 2013 operational spending by 5%.  The Mayor and Council will meet with agency directors and elected officials for individual budget reviews with the goal of introducing fiscal ordinances reducing 2013 appropriations accordingly in February.

• The Capital Improvement Board (CIB) will pay the city $5 million for public safety in 2013. The money is currently budgeted for the cost of repairing the Capitol Commons Garage.  In exchange, the City, via the downtown TIF, will fund the cost of repairs.

• The Mayor and Council will approve increases of 2% and 4% respectively in the car rental and admission taxes, effective March 1, 2013.
• An amount equal to 100% of the revenue from the first year of the increase will be directed to public safety (approximately $6.7 million).
• After the first year and beyond, an amount equal to 25% of revenue from this action (up to $3 million per year) will be directed to the City for public safety.

• The Mayor and Council will form a bi-partisan commission to make a recommendation on the elimination of the Homestead Credit Subsidy as part of the 2014 budget. This action, if approved, would generate approximately $9 million in funding for the city.

• The Mayor and leadership of both Council caucuses will hold monthly financial meetings.

• The Mayor and Council will continue working toward the implementation of a Public Safety Foundation by the end of 2013.

These actions taken together will produce a $12 million annual increase in general fund revenue beginning in 2014, leave the City with a manageable $6 million gap between estimated spending versus revenues for 2014, and leave $42 million in operating reserves at the end of 2013.

 

Let's look at the details a bit.  The Council has agreed to raise the admissions tax and the car rental tax - both of which are being introduced tonight.  No sense voicing your opinion in these matters when they go to committee in mid-January.  The Councillors won't even be able to feign interest.  These tax increases were authorized by the State Legislature as part of the CIB bailout package.  However, the City is taking all of those revenues this year and 25% of all subsequent revenues from these increases in future years.  I will be interested in what legal maneuvering they use to launder the funds from the CIB to the City.  It would be a hoot if they use a PILOT.   Hope at least one Legislator is totally pissed at this turn of events.

The CIB is, through the looking glass, going to compensate the City for police and fire protection this year to the tune of $5 million.  In return, the City will use property tax revenues from the Downtown TIF to pay for the $5 million renovation that was going to be the responsibility of the CIB.  So, the Downtown TIF is really giving $5 million to the City.  Just as a reminder, that money is being kept from IPS, IndyGo, IMCPL, and Health & Hospitals.  Sorry children, travellers, readers and sick people.

But, on the bright side, the Mayor's office will start to talk with the Council leadership on a regular basis.  And, they agreed to study a tax increase in 2014 from the elimination of the Homestead Credit.  Surely the Council will stop thinking for itself and just present the Mayor with a rubber stamp instead of doing the people's work.  Surely they will not actually recommend the Homestead Credit continue in 2014.  Because if they don't eliminate it next year, Mayor Vaughn will just slash the County budgets again.

Yes Virginia, extortion works.

Council Meets Tonight

The City-County Council will hold its first meeting of the year tonight.  Hold on to your wallets.

The agenda is posted here.

Two Mayoral vetoes will be taken up last : Prop 362, which would allow RebuildIndy funds to be used for Police and Fire recruit classes, and Prop 372, which are the Democrat drawn Council district maps.

Next to last is the Council funding ordinance proposed by the Republicans, which does not contain money for legal action on Council district maps - Prop 450.  Curiously, Prop 447, which was proposed by the Democrats and did contain the additional funds, is nowhere to be found.  It was listed on the public notice for the Admin & Finance meeting, but is not mentioned in the minutes as having been considered.  It also has been omitted from the list of pending proposals. 

No action is to be taken tonight on the eviscerated budgets of the County Offices.

An appeal of an MDC decision on a zoning matter in Washington Township is set for hearing by the full Council.  Unfortunately the City's webpages that list zoning petitions has been cleansed of matters prior to December, so I cannot tell you what issues are involved except to say it involves a request to allow a 90 unit apartment complex to be built on 6 acres at 8845 Township Line Road.

Two new taxes are being proposed this month - Prop 23 would increase the event admissions tax from 6 to 10%, making your visits to the IRT and other entertainment that much more expensive. Prop 24 would increase the car rental tax from 4 to 6%. [edited to add: a recent article by IndyStar reporter, Jon Murray, says that the car rental tax would to from 15 to 17%]  These revenues would go to the CIB, which had enough spare change to send a gratuitous $5 million to the Pacers just last month and will send another $5 million this month.  But, should they pass you can enjoy your family time at sporting events, concerts and plays even more, knowing you are all that stands between the Simons and a soup line.  They are being assigned to the Admin & Finance committee which next meets on January 15.  These taxes must be approved before the end of February, or the authority to raise the taxes vanishes.

Could See This One Coming for Years Now

Anyone who remembers that the CIB bailout from a few years ago contained two delayed opportunities to increase taxes, knew those two taxes would be on the table.  Will someone please explain to me why we go through this charade of 'well, maybe we won't need the money'.  The city mothers and fathers never let a chance to raise taxes fall to the wayside.

Today's Indy Star holds the 'revelation' that there is intense consideration by the CIB and Mayor Vaughn and Council President Lewis, to raise the admissions tax by an additional 4% and the car rental tax by an additional 2%.  Reporter Jon Murray has a great article, and one that has a host of information in it.  Last night fellow blogger Paul Ogden commented on it over at Ogden On Politics.  This morning, Gary Welsh adds his thoughts on Advance Indiana.

The additional taxes could raise about $7 million in additional funds to the CIB each year.  The CIB was funnelling $10 million a year, $8 million of which came from property taxes through the Consolidated Downtown TIF, for the past three years.  They are now in 'negotiations' to hand over even more cash to the Pacers.  Since they continue to receive the $8 million from property taxes, an additional $7 million might leave a $5 million 'surplus' (after what I assume will be a 'negotiated' deal to continue the $10 million extra funding to the poor Pacers).

But wait - there is a new twist.  After cutting the Council budget off at the knees because the Democrats placed a $15 million PILOT obligation on to the CIB, Mayor Vaughn is apparently interested in syphoning off some of the CIB's new tax revenue for the City.  The shell game is such that the City would ask the CIB to pay for the public safety services it receives from the City; services that are now provided free of charge.  So, the City can get a new stream of tax revenue by raising taxes for the CIB.  Since the super bowl supposedly cost $4 million in public safety, this new shell game could not possibly cover the true cost of services provided to CIB-run facilities throughout downtown.

While Mayor Vaughn refused to fund recruit classes for IMPD and IFD and says the city budget must be lean, he continues to foist more TIFs on the taxpayers, push for even more corporate handouts of tax dollars, and craft ever greater sweetheart deals with multi-millionaire sports team owners.  Priorities in this City are out of whack.  Our City government has become hardly much more than an extension of the Chamber of Commerce.

CIB Says Its Budget Increase Isn't What It Looks Like

The IBJ is on top of it once more. Reporter Scott Olsen is reporting today that the Capital Improvement Board is requesting an increase of $10 million in their 2011 budget over their budget this year.

But get this -- it has absolutely nothing to do with their $10 million gift to the Pacers organization ! Quack, quack, quack.

Olsen writes:

The Capital Improvement Board’s 2011 operating budget is projected to increase by $10 million over this year's budget—the same amount the organization initially will provide to the Indiana Pacers under a new funding agreement reached last month.

But CIB President Ann Lathrop insists funding for the Pacers to help operate Conseco Fieldhouse, which totals $30 million over the next three years, is not the only reason for the larger, $73.1 million operating budget.

Quack.

Okay, I know I'm not an accountant, but I did major in Math in College, so... If the CIB never gave away the $10 million to the Pacers, and they never agreed to $3.5 million in improvements to the Conseco Fieldhouse, wouldn't the CIB budget drop by $3.5 million in 2011?

Quack.

Olsen highlights several expenditures in the new budget:

Higher-than-expected costs to operate Lucas Oil Stadium have helped put the CIB in a financial bind. The 2011 operating budget allocates $3.5 million, the same amount as this year, to the Indianapolis Colts for a share of revenue from stadium events. Another $1.6 million—$100,000 more than this year—will be given to the team to reimburse it for game-day expenses.

Other highlights of the 2011 budget include $300,000 in funding for the Arts Council of Indianapolis, which formerly received as much as $1 million annually, and $300,000 to support local tourism efforts.

Quack.

I have uneasy, mixed feelings about Olsen's disclosure that the $8 million of taxpayer money that the CIB would normally hand over to the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, "will not come from CIB revenue but from downtown-development funds". Hold on to your hats, er, wallets, folks. The CIB budget is going up by $10 million AND $8 million will come from 'downtown-development funds'. That adds up to an increase of $18 million for the tourist trade. But, contrary to Lathrop's assertions, I still think $10 million of that is the gift to the Pacers.

Quack.

What Will Become of the MSA Parking Lots?

Through a series of variances over the years, the two gravel parking lots on the site of the old Market Square Arena have been allowed to operate without the usually required paving. Well, the variance extensions are just about over - the current variance expires on August 6, 2010.

The approval letter reads in part:

This Approval shall be temporary, expiring August 6, 2010, at which time the parking lots shall be hardsurfaced and striped by the petitioner per the Central Business Districts Zoning Ordinance, or the petitioner shall cease parking facility operations.

The owner and petitioner are none other than the Capital Improvement Board, which is so flush with cash, that it just yesterday agreed to give the Pacers another $10 million per year for 3 years AND make at least $3.5 million in improvements to Conseco Fieldhouse.

In 2008, the CIB netted an income of $788,693.12 for those two lots.

Also in 2008, the Regional Center Zoning Ordinance was revised to prohibit parking lots in the Mile Square, which would include this site. So, even if the CIB wanted to pave the lot, it would have to file a variance to allow the lot itself. The CIB has not filed for any petition as of today.

You will recall that just last year the CIB claimed it couldn't get by without at least $43 million more per year, plus a one time infusion of another $43 million.

The State Legislature authorized an expansion of the Professional Sports Development Area, allowed the City-County Council to increase the innkeeper tax by 1% in 2009, and offered a $9 million a year loan for each of three years. In addition, they allowed the City-County Council the option of increasing the car rental tax by 2% and the admissions tax by 4% in 2013.

At the time, the Legislative Services Agency estimated that the expanded PSDA would provide the CIB with about $600,000 in 2010, predicted to grow to $6 million by 2012 as the new hotels and amenities in that area come on line. The increased innkeeper tax was estimated to give an additional $4 million per year. So, that amounts to a total infusion of $13.6 million in 2010, growing to about $16 million by 2011, and dropping back to $10 million in 2012 as the state loans dry up.

Of the $43 million the CIB claimed was bare bones, absolutely necessary to avoid bankruptcy and worse, there was provision for $15 million to the Pacers.

The new Pacers deal suggests that the CIB could actually get by on a whole lot less than they made out. (I know, imagine that !) Even though the CIB got roughly $13.6 million in new cash this year, they are able to give away a full $10 million to the Pacers, promise at least $3.5 million in Fieldhouse renovations, and give up on about $800,000 in revenue from the old MSA parking lots. Next year the new money should provide a cushion of a couple million dollars. But in 2012 the influx of new cash should drop back down, again eating up any cushion for CIB operations. That might suggest to some, that the CIB wasn't in nearly the dire situation they made out. If you can give it all away, maybe you didn't really need it to begin with.

I sure would like to hear what the Legislators, who ran quite a gauntlet just to come up with their CIB bailout plan last year, think about the CIB at this point in time. Wonder what the Councillors who voted for the CIB bailout think, too.

Long Live the Tax Caps

Without the property tax caps coming on line this year and next, Decatur residents would be in disastrous straits trying to pay their pay-2009 tax bills. That is because of the irresponsible non-oversight of the MSD Decatur School District by the School Board which has allowed the school property tax rate to more than double in two years; even though the State is taking over all operating costs for the Schools during this time.

For the pay-2008 property taxes, which were recently due, the Decatur Schools had the highest rate of any School District in the County at $2.75 per one hundred dollars of assessed value. Not only that, they were the highest of any of the other 270 school districts (out of 316 total districts) whose numbers are currently being reported on the Indiana Department of Education's website. Hey great ! Last year we might very well have been number one in the State !!! Unfortunately it wasn't in the graduation rate or ISTEP passage rate. Just the property tax rate.

In Marion County, the next highest pay-2008 rate was Franklin School District which charged $2.13 per one hundred dollars of assessed value. The hyperinflated School tax rate made Decatur the highest taxed Township with a total rate of $4.31; a full 20% higher than Franklin and 80% higher that Washington Township.

But wait ! There's more !

For our pay-2009 property taxes, Decatur Schools are charging MORE this year for the schools alone, than the TOTAL property tax rate for all government units combined last year. According to the legal notice published in yesterday's Indianapolis Star, they are charging $5.28 per one hundred dollars of assessed value; 75% higher than last year and two and a half times higher than the year before that. This is twice that of our new competitor, Beech Grove School District who weighed in at a paltry $2.62. This makes Decaturite's total property tax rate, including all governmental units, an astounding $7.04; a full 75% higher than the next highest Township, Wayne, and a staggering 263% higher than Washington Township.

Thanks to the School District's irresponsible debt accumulation, we will be extremely hard pressed to keep the few businesses we have, much less attract any new ones. Let me repeat this new tax rate, thanks to the Schools -- $7.04. Businesses do look at these things before deciding where to locate. So, if you want more for Decatur, vote the School Board out of office in the next election, which will be held in the Spring of 2010.

More later on all of the extraneous property owned by MSD Decatur Township that can be sold to make at least modest reductions in our appalling property tax situation.

Council Committee Votes 5-1 Do Pass on Prop 285

Warning: Rant ahead

Last night, the City-County Council Rules & Public Policy Committee voted 5-1 to move Proposal 285, 2009, to the full Council with a do pass recommendation. Aye votes were from Councillors Lutz, Cockrum, Plowman, Malone, and Pfisterer -- all Republicans. The lone nay vote was from Councillor Mansfield, the only Democrat Committee member present.

The meeting, Chaired by Councillor Bob Lutz of Wayne Township, was a grueling 4-ish hour affair that was an orchestrated parade of 'invited witnesses' with unlimited time to disgorge all of their thoughts, followed by a brief public comment period where speakers were limited to 2 minutes (more on that below) but who were 'graciously' allowed to dribble over that time limit in 5 second increments. Of the parade of maybe two dozen 'invited witnesses', all save three had a personal financial interest in more money being thrown at the Capital Improvement Board and all save two were in favor of the Proposal.

At the conclusion of the public testimony, Councillor Lutz feigned a let's get this over with and let the chips fall where they may attitude, fully knowing he had the votes to get this out of committee. Why did he know he could accomplish his goal? Because two Democratic Councillors, Sanders and Gray, were no-shows. Lutz had indicated he would likely not take a vote last night, but re-convene in a week to give the Committee members time to mull over the testimony they had heard. This probably was because the Committee is composed of 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats; certainly the Committee most likely to produce a positive outcome for the Proposal. Even so, Lutz could not count on Councillor Malone to vote do pass. With all three Democrats present, that could have caused a tie vote which would leave the Proposal in Committee. But, with the two MIAs, the math moved in his favor and he was guaranteed that his reliable 4 votes would serve his needs.

Some random thoughts:

The public deserves an explanation from Councillors Joanne Sanders and Monroe Gray for their absence on this critical Committee meeting and vote. I see that the blog, Indianapolis Times, which is the mouthpiece of the County Party, remains silent on the hearing, in contrast to their seeming interest leading up to last night (see here, here, and here). This makes me to wonder if Sanders and Gray are holding their aye votes in the wings for a last minute save of Prop 285 at the full Council. Politics as usual - play 'smart' at the public's detriment. But, I don't know why they were not there and maybe there is an explanation - we deserve one. [edited to add: I have received word that Sanders has been out of town on business and was unable to attend.]

The public was done a disservice, as is usual when more than two people show up, in the public comment period. Chairman Lutz' should have given the public the same time limit as his parade of invited witnesses. His handling of comment time may have been generous by Council Committee standards, but that bar is set very low. In all of these committees it is as though the public point of view is not as worthy as that of proponents of a proposal. From my perch in the cheap seats it often seems as if the attitude of the Chairmen is that the problem with the public comments is that they drag the meeting out too long. While the Council does the public's business, I believe they need to be much more accommodating of the time in which they give the public to express its views. As I mentioned in a comment to Paul Ogden's blog, I challenge Committee Chairs to try to speak to an issue for 2 minutes with buzzers going off every 5 seconds thereafter.

The proponents of Prop 285, save one or two, hid behind the skirts and aprons of the service workers in order to shill for more tax money for the CIB. As I mentioned earlier, these folks have a personal financial interest in the ever increasing investment of more and more tax money into the sports/convention business. Folks like Tamara Zahn of IDI, Susan Williams of ISC, Barney Levengood of the CIB, and Bob Welsh of ICVA are even more outrageous, as they haul down fat salaries derived almost exclusively from tax revenues. As reported by Paul Ogden, Zahn makes around $200,000 a year while IDI has squirrelled away over $7M in savings living lavishly off the public dole, and Welsh makes about $350,000 in salary and benefits while the ICVA had 'only' $4M in assets in 2007. Meanwhile Williams makes over $130,000 (poor thing) with ISC holding assets of nearly $7M in 2007, and Levengood makes $221,000 per year while the CIB takes in over $100M in taxes each year. These folks are pulling down the more than generous salaries from the public trough and have little real accountability for how well they do their jobs. Compare that to the maids who average a mere $15,000 a year in Indianapolis. To pretend that this CIB bailout is for the little guy, is bold faced lying. Its to keep the good times rolling for a select few living large off taxpayer largess.

There has been and will be NO examination of how the CIB got into this mess. Each Councillor is apparently quite content to believe it is the Mayor of the opposite political party, or the Governor, who caused this supposed catastrophe. This attitude will never identify the problems with the CIB in its fiscal and policy structure that will continue to bleed the taxpayer. The Councillors all acknowledged last night that this is only a two year 'fix' and ignored the obvious conclusion that it is therefore not a real fix of the real problems. Only Councillor Malone expressed an opinion that indicated that a real fix was important to her - enough to influence her vote at the full Council.

There is no interest in doing the public a service and creating a plan to make the sports/convention/tourist/hospitality industry self-sufficient. Speaker after speaker tossed around numbers in the range of hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars. I kept thinking - so why aren't we rich already and why are these guys back begging for more tax revenues?

Passage of the hotel tax and acceptance of the state loan, if successful at the full Council meeting on August 10, will trigger the necessity to increase two more taxes, car rental and ticket, in 2013. This is putting the onus on the next Council. Quite irresponsible in my view and it smacks of politics. The public good should count for something and it never seems to be weighted very high when elites have their hands out for the public dole. The public good is all the rage as a foil when the discussion is more money to help those who struggle to put a meal on the table or clothe their children or what to do about those pesky panhandlers who inconvenience us at stoplights. It takes the EPA to force Indianapolis to fix the sewer overflows that push human feces into our river and streams like some third world cesspool. But, all it takes for the wealthy overseers of our sports empire to get more, is to claim a need for an additional $47M on top of the $100M they already get and the only topic for discussion among our elected officials becomes how to land that money for them. Again, no request for an examination of what the CIB did wrong to put it in the position it is in now. That is the only way you can determine what to fix.

Blame decisions past and push problems forward seems to be the name of the game. But, make sure you get the CIB all the money it wants.

I hope the significance of the August 10th Council meeting is not lost on the Councillors. Mayor Ballard will present the 2010 budget proposal with something like $30M in cuts. Proposal 285 will be voted upon with its increase of $12M of tax revenues and a $27M loan from the State to add to the $100M in tax revenues the CIB already gets. Contrasting what City services are to be cut with the bailout of our sports empire, will shed a clear white light on what is really important.

Fractured Fairytales

Some of you are old enough to remember Fractured Fairytales from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Ah, those were the days.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's actions lately had me wondering what Fractured Fairytale applied the correct moral to his story.

As you know, Mayor Ballard has been reported from time to time as coming up with a plan to rescue the CIB from its own inept financial practices (along with the contributing inept practices of the two previous Mayors). The plan at any one time involves a menu of tax increases with a total price tag of an additional $48M per year on top of the $93M of tax support they already get. This new money would include a $15M gift to the Pacers to ease the burden of reduced interest in their home games and apparel sales.

Mayor Ballard has proposed a menu of tax increases to help bail the CIB out. He has even finally begun meeting with select politicos to push his plan. He has nothing of note to say to the public.

Meanwhile - back at the ranch - Greg Ballard, Mayor of Indianapolis, finds that money to run the City is very tight and will be even tighter next year. So, he is backing cuts on services to make ends meet. Ellenberger Park stands to lose its ice rink because the City took in $165,000 less than it cost to operate it last year. The City Market stands to lose it's $250,000 subsidy that keeps it afloat. Some City employees are not given business cards, even though they interact daily with the public. Is he seeking tax increases to support these ventures? Nope.

Credibility is the ultimate cost here for the two Mayor Ballards. How to reconcile cutbacks of paltry sums for services that directly affect quality of life, while he stubbornly clamors for immense influxes of cash to boost the bottom line for 3 people from filthy rich to filthier rich. How can Mayor Ballard sell the public on both at the same time? He can't. Nope. Ain't gonna happen.

Its all the public's money and spending that money should reflect healthy priorities that make Indy the best place FOR ALL ITS CITIZENS to live - not just the lucky few who can afford to attend football and basketball events.

So, back to the Fractured Fairytales. Is it the little boy with his finger in the dike - while gigantic waves crash over the top? Is it the little boy who cried wolf? Chicken Little? Got to be something where the moral of the story is : you can't take from the poor to give to the rich AND at the same time take from the poor to make ends meet AND claim you are a good steward of the public's money and interests.

Setting Goals and Limits

Every time we turn around in the mess that is the Capital Improvement Board's finances, we have to hear about 66,000 hospitality jobs on the line. Now, I would like to think that the personalities hiding behind the maids and the cocktail servers and the janitors and the ticket takers really worry about the quality and quantity of those particular jobs. But, I'd like to see some salary breakdown. How much aggregate money goes to these 66,000 hospitality workers and how much aggregate money goes to the ball players and ball club owners? Which number would be larger? Who gets health insurance, dental benefits? Who doesn't need a second job to make ends meet?

But, even if there wasn't this duality, should we not ask - at what price do we continue to throw more and more taxpayer money at an industry that does not ever seem able to stand on its own two feet?

I would suggest that we pull together a group to study the downtown hospitality/entertainment / tourist industry. That would include hotels, restaurants, theaters, art galleries, malls, stadiums, and maybe even cross the river and pick up the zoo and gardens. The study group should not have ANY lobbyists on it. It should, however, have regular taxpayers, elected officials, and some folks with particular expertise, like accountants. There should be far more representatives of the funders than representatives of those who want the funds, so that preordained outcomes are avoided.

The purpose of the group would be to ask and answer these questions:

How much taxpayer money has been spent with what results?
How much more money does the taxpayer owe currently?

What is the goal of funding the downtown tourist/hospitality industry?
Is it to provide sports teams to a small market City?
Is it to provide a living wage to lots of people?
Should it be the City's goal?

How do we measure success in the goals?
Can this industry stand on its own and thrive?
If so, how do we reach that goal?
If not, is this the best return on investment industry to target with a forever stream of tax revenues?

What is the structure through which tax money is funneled presently?
Is this the optimum structure to reach the goals?
What is the optimum structure to reach the goals?

Which segments of this industry would produce the best overall results with any funds provided - sports, arts, entertainment?
What mix of funds vs. segment would provide the optimal strategy for meeting the goals?

I'm sure there are other questions and answers that could be derived.

All of this information would be given to the public for input on what they are willing to pay for a thriving downtown. Ample time would be given for comments - not just 2 minutes per person so officials don't have to be up late listening to their constituents.

The haphazard method used for 30 years now does not seem to be doing any more than wrecking havoc on the taxpayers' pocketbooks. The public deserves clear goals, strategies, and standards by which success can be measured. I'd say the public deserves all that BEFORE one more penny of tax money is funneled to the CIB.

HB 1604 - CIB bailout bill - fiscal impact analysis

The Legislative Services Agency (LSA) does a fiscal impact analysis of all bills before the State Legislature. Here is what the LSA considers the new taxes proposed in HB 1604, if implemented, would generate for each of the next three years.

The LSA leaves the revenue prediction for parking fees as 'indeterminable'. The total revenue for all remaining tax increases combined are:

2010 = $19.2 million
2011 = $23.5 million
2012 = $26.8 million

The CIB claims they need an additional $48 million annually to make ends meet. Even if you support the claims of the CIB and the tax increases, this still leaves a sizable gap in revenues.