County Compared With Downtown

After concentrating on the economic data for Downtown Indy yesterday, I used the US Census website to map the same sort of data for the entire County.  Downtown is both a bit better for income and a bit worse for poverty than the County as a whole.

The map for the estimated 2012 mean household income is below:

To make the maps as large as possible, I had to cut off the County at the very top and bottom.



As you can see, when it comes to average household income, Downtown isn't anything special.  In fact, 5 census tracts in northern Marion County are about twice that of Downtown.  Taking the County average for comparison, Downtown does outperform.

The estimated 2012 per capita income is mapped  next:

Again, the five northern census tracts are about twice the income, this time based on a per capita calculation, than Downtown.  And again, Downtown isn't unusually high or low compared to other areas of the County. 

Turning to poverty rates, we see that Downtown is slightly higher than average.  The map for the estimated percentage of people who fall below the poverty line is below.

The Marion County average is straddled by the three Downtown census tracts.  The worst poverty rates surround Downtown.

Looking at the situation for children in poverty, we find that Downtown doesn't stand out.

The intensity of poverty among children is much higher than the population as a whole, and further spread out beyond the Downtown limits.

It is untenable that a fifth of our people and nearly a third of our children live below the poverty line.  We have literally spent billions of taxpayer dollars on Downtown and we seem to have created, perhaps, a slight oasis in the center of our County, but not by much.

Update on SB 188 and Its Applicability to Marion County

Last week I noted some of the exciting changes the Legislature enacted through SB 118.  Well, an alert reader gave me a heads up that the bill did not apply to Marion County insofar as giving the City-County Council the authority to review the annual budget of the Metropolitan Development Commission.   I dug down into the Indian Code and verified that the alert reader was in fact correct and my previous depiction was incorrect.

I will go back and edit the old entry.  Not wanting to leave a false impression with those of you who read that entry already, I am going to recap the highlights and note whether the item applies to all of Indiana's redevelopment commissions, or to all but the MDC and Marion County.

1) Establishment of a sunset date for all old TIFs that do not now have an expiration date:  As noted, the consolidated downtown TIF is the only set of old TIFs in Indiana that will not have to have a sunset date created.  The date sunset date for the rest will be the later of June 30, 2025, or the last scheduled payment of outstanding bonds secured with that TIFs revenue.

2) Marion County will be the only County where the legislative body will not review the budget of that County's redevelopment commission (assuming any particular County has one).

3) In all Counties except Marion, the legislative body will review all property purchases either over 3 years in term or $5 M in cost.  Our City-County Council gets to review the property purchases of the MDC if the repayment of the debt for the purchase takes more than 5 years.

4) The MDC already must have the approval of the City-County Council in order to issue bonds.  While the Code does not specify that the Council can make changes to the term, interest rate, provision for early payment or collateralized interest, the Council certainly can withhold its approval for any of those reasons.  The other Counties get this legislative approval requirement placed on the issuance of bonds by their redevelopment commissions.

5) All County's legislative bodies get to approve, and adjust if it suits them, the annual determination of how much TIF increment will pass through to the other taxing units, once the expected revenue exceeds twice what is required to make the schedule debt payments and cover expected pay as you go projects for the coming year.

6) All Counties' redevelopment commissions, including the MDC, will have to show that any new tax revenues generated by the creation of a new TIF or expansion of an old TIF, would not have been generated except for the creation or expansion of the TIF.  It cannot be a simple claim; there must be supporting evidence.

So, the busy lobbyists for Mayor Ballard/Vaughn kept some of the changes from impacting their coveted slush funds.  Luckily for us, there still are important changes coming to Marion County, as well as the rest of Indiana's Counties.

TIFs - 2013 Legislative Changes Protect the Base & the Curious Case of the North Midtown TIF [corrected]

It has taken me a while, but I finally sat down with the forms filled out last August by the Marion County Auditor's Office, that evaluate the amount of base and increment in each TIF district we have.  These are the annual TIF neutralization forms that I've brought up before in this blog.

The forms for 2013 (pay 2014) are different than those used in previous years.  That is because of changes made just last year by the Legislature to reign in unsound practices that led to the base being eroded each year.  Now it is the actual aim of the form to let the base rise and fall due to changing market values, not due to the amount of tax money the increment took in the previous year.

As a reminder, each TIF district has its Assessed Value split between the base and the increment.  The base is supposed to be the value of the property before the TIF was created, and the increment is the new value supposedly created by the establishment of the TIF.  The taxes that flow from the base are always promised to continue flowing to the schools, city, etc., but we know full well that that promise was not an honest promise - until the 2013 changes were forced by the Statehouse.

Instead of getting to far into the weeds, let me just summarize by saying that the new forms ask how much new construction happened and allots that value to the increment, how much was demolished and allots that value proportionately to both the increment and the base, and, interestingly enough, how much value rolled off from abatements that year and allots it to the increment.  It takes any other increase or decrease in the AV, presumably due to actual rising or falling market values, and allots that proportionately to the base and increment.

In the big view, this change appears to be successful.  I had to make an adjustment for the new North Midtown TIF's inclusion for the first time this year - which was easy enough.  I would have done so for the new Bush Stadium Area and Mass Ave TIFs from 2012-13, but the component TIFs of the Consolidated Downtown TIF are no longer itemized.  Rather, the Downtown TIF and its 10 components are now reported as one set of numbers, as is the Consolidated Airport TIF and its 7 components. 

In the 2011 (pay 2012) TIF summary provided to the TIF Study Commission, the value of the base for all TIF Districts in Marion County was reported as $2.02 Billion.  By the next year, the base had been eroded substantially; in 2012 (pay 2013) the total base AV fell to $1.47 Billion - losing a quarter of its value as half a billion dollars was pushed into the TIF increment.  The latest figures for 2013 (pay 2014), show a stabilized base AV, coming in at $1.47 B, once again (after subtracting the new North Midtown TIF).

Half the TIFs lost value and half gained between 2012 and 2013, with a net growth of $170 M for a total TIF District (base plus increment) value of $5.83 B.  The Downtown TIF accounts for just over half the value of all TIFs in the County, but its growth accounted for the lion's share of the Countywide TIF increment value, adding $149 M.

The State Legislative Services Agency puts together annual reports on the impact of the tax caps.  In 2012, the LSA reported that Marion County TIFs collected $99 M in property taxes.  By 2013, that figure rose to $108 M.  The projected TIF revenue to be collected this year is $118 M.  The Downtown TIF is the big winner, with a projected revenue of $68 M.

The North Midtown TIF was established early last year, so this was the first time the base and increment were evaluated through the annual TIF neutralization process.  The form (p. 7 of the pdf) reports that there was no new construction, $286,300 worth of demolition, and $755,960 in previously abated property coming off the tax rolls.  You'd think that since there was no new construction, the base would continue to be 100% of the entire TIF AV. 

Nope. 

The abatements granted before the TIF was established are now generous donors to the increment.  The increment went from 0 to $469,707, in a year that saw no growth truly attributable to the creation of the TIF.  Since abatements tend to run 10 years and fall off the same fraction each year, one can guesstimate that the old abatements could award the North Midtown TIF about $4 Million over the next decade.  Not bad for just starting a TIF and having no new dollar investments to claim as having been caused by the TIF.  [These are the corrected numbers.  As Anon 10:50 pointed out, I had the incorrect order of magnitude previously.  I apologize for the added drama.]

I await brand new legislation regarding TIFs to get signed by Governor Pence.  I'll report within a couple of days some exciting new Legislative endevors to reign in rampant abuse of TIFs, especially here in Marion County.  They did a good thing last year, by solidifying the TIF base, so that at least one of the promises made when TIFs get created is a promise that stands a chance to be fulfilled.  The North Midtown TIF shows that the revamped system is not perfect, but much improved over the old way.  One step at a time.  One step at a time.

SB 621 - Additional Changes, and, Interesting Questions Arise About the MDC

SB 621, which tries to extend the life of Republican rule over Marion County, has passed out of the Conference Committee changed from the form it had when entering that body.  The body itself was changed, substituting Republican Senator Waltz for Democrat Senator Breaux, and Republican Representative Speedy for Democrat Representative Bartlett.  Having shed any semblance of bipartisanship, the all Republican group passed their version of a 'compromise' piece of legislation.

All sections of the bill now clearly apply only to Marion County.  As we all expected, the 4 At-Large Council seats are again to be eliminated.  The Controller can now 'only' change the budgets of all Departments and Offices if the revenues drop from the levels expected when the budget was passed and 'only' twice a year.  The County Commissioners still lose their two appointees to the Metropolitan Development Commission, but one is shifted to the Mayor and one to the Council, giving the Mayor 5 and the Council 4 appointments.  Lake and Allen Counties are struck from the burden of having to count all absentee ballots at a central location - now only Marion County must do so.  And, Marion County's Township Boards drop from 7 members to 5 at the next election.

Interestingly enough is the question of when the MDC appointments shift.  According to state law, the term of these appointments may be from 1 to 3 years, as determined by the appointing body.  Here is the law, with the MDC portion highlighted:

IC 36-7-4-218
Membership of commission; terms and removal of citizen members
Sec. 218. (a) When an initial term of office of a citizen member expires, each new appointment of a citizen member is:
(1) for a term of four (4) years (in the case of a municipal, county, or area plan commission);
(2) for a term of three (3) years (in the case of a metropolitan plan commission); or
(3) for a term of one (1), two (2), or three (3) years, as designated by the appointing authority (in the case of the metropolitan development commission). 

A member serves until his successor is appointed and qualified. A member is eligible for reappointment.

So, one outstanding question is, when the Marion County Commissioners appointed Cornelius Brown and Ed Mahern, for what term did they appoint them?

The new section regarding the appointing bodies takes effect on July 1, 2013.  But at what time would the Mayor and the Council get to begin taking over those two appointments?

The shift of MDC appointments has always been the worst of the Republican power grab, and will leave Indianapolis and it Citizens even more at the mercy of Mayor Vaughn and his rapacious appetite for giving away taxpayer money to favored developers, regardless of how many employee contracts he has to gut or how many cops and firefighters he has to lay off to afford doing so.

Marion County Population - Is it Up or Down?

So, what happens when the Indy Star runs two population shift articles in two days?  The first says the population in Indiana and Marion County grew in 2011-2012.  The second cited a Ball State study that said more people moved out of Marion County than moved in during the three 1-year periods, 2000-2001, 2006-2007 and 2009-2010.  Well, it seems that many people will just lament the loss of Marion County population and call for all sorts of remedies.

I located the Ball State study, authored by Dabney Faulk, Director of Research, Center for Business and Economic Research.  A couple of statements caught my eye and may suggest we look more closely at the take-home message of his study:

According to the US Census Bureau, the population of

Indiana between 2000 and 2010 grew by more than 400,000

people due to natural increase and migration.
...

Indiana’s overall net migration was negative in 2000-2001 (-4,113) and again in 2009-2010 (-6,763). However, in the pre-recession time period of 2006-2007, net migration was positive at 2,594.

If you look at the three 1-year time periods, Indiana lost population, but within the entire decade, actually gained 400,000 real people.  Hmmm....  Just how can that be?

One caveat of the study is laid out by Dr. Faulk quite early.

With the use of IRS data, there are cases that lead to migration flows being undercounted or overcounted. First, households of the poor and elderly may not be required to file a tax return. This results in undercounting this portion of the population. Next, the migration flow data requires back-to-back years of tax returns to match up. When there are mismatches of returns resulting from marriage, divorce, or foreign in-migration, these numbers are not counted in the migration flows. This results in undercounting. Undercounting also occurs when the mailing address on the tax return is in a different county than the home address.

It seems this migration pattern may have its uses, but it also has some limitations.  Anyone who does file a tax return, (the poor, the elderly, the youth) are not counted by this methodology.  So, what are we left with?  If the three 1-year periods are suggestive of population loss in the State when we know there was actually growth in the decade, what are we to make of the suggestion of population loss in Marion County?

We have to look at the census data.

The US Census estimates that between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2012, Marion County population grew by 1.7% (from 903,393 to 918,977).  In fact, the Census estimates Marion County grew between 2010 and 2011, too.

According to Census data recorded on the Indy.Gov site, Marion County grew 5% in the first decade of this century (from 860,454 to 903,393).

So, bottom line, Marion County is not losing population.  So, lets stop with using population loss to boost pet 'remedies'.

Mass Transit - TIF Out, Eminent Domain Out, Other Good Ideas Avoided

First off, lets take a moment to celebrate that HB 1011 was amended to omit the option to establish a TIF district along any rail lines. This amendment was offered by Representative Cherrish Pryor. Whew ! One very bad idea down !

Now on to other good amendments - some that made it and others that didn't get far.

I tripped on a link to documents provided to Legislators on the ISL website (in.gov/legislative).  These apparently are the documents that are available on the Legislators desks at various hearing dates.  I poked on the mass transit bill (HB 1011) and the House Ways and Means committee and finally found a hearing on February 13 with several amendments, some voted on and others not.

In this group were some very good ideas.  Amendment 35 (here is the link, but it requires ftp and may not work for you) banned the use of taxpayer assets or forced employee time to promote the public question unless those assets were also made available to those opposed to the public question.  It also would have banned vendors from promoting the question. 

Amendment 35 was not heard - an author was not even found at the hearing.

Amendment 38 (click here - again I hope the link works for you) was heard and passed by consent.  It wasn't clear to me if Rep. Pryor authored it, but she certainly championed it in the House Ways and Means Committee meeting. It included the elimination from HB 1011, the transit authority use of eminent domain.  Discussion mentioned that the Cities and Counties have the authority and most of the right of way already.  It also included the additional requirement that any bonds floated by the transit authority must also be approved by the fiscal bodies of the Counties involved, and set minority and women hiring goals.  And also notable, the transit authority board would have additional seats appointed by the County Councils and County Commissioners.  The Marion County appointments would be 5 - 2 by the Mayor, 2 by the Council, and 1 by the Commissioners.

Amendments 37, 40, and 41 all included a township by township referendum vote.  The final evolution of this issue was to allow the outer townships of the outer counties to have individual referenda, but not the internal townships in those counties, and no township votes in Marion County at all.  Of course, they need the donors from Decatur, Perry, and Franklin Townships, who will not see any improvement in the lacking transit we now 'enjoy,' should this mass transit plan go all the way through.

HB 1011 did pass out of the House and now goes to the Senate.  Hopefully they will include language to limit taxpayer's subsidizing only the proponents of the public question, trim the costs in half, include township by township opt-in votes, and find a way to ensure that any plan implied in the public referendum be the plan that must be implemented with the tax revenue approved.

But, today, I intend to enjoy the fact that the TIF district is out.

First Do No Harm - Impact of TIFs - Wayne Township

In my last two posts I mentioned the fairy tales that are promulgated in order to sell TIF districts. In case you are reading this entry because of its Wayne Township focus, let me repeat some significant fairy tales and facts.

Fairy Tales Used To Sell TIFs:

First, the taxes that flow from the district before the TIF is set up will continue to flow to the schools and libraries and other taxing units, just like before. Second, the project being funded is just the thing to spark other, privately funded, economic development. This boost in economic development will spur an increase in property values that will pay for everything and we'll all be better off.

Little Know Facts About Marion County TIFs:

• taxes promised to continue to flow (the "base") have been shifted over to pay off TIF bonds and expenses (the "increment") (see "Marion County's TIF Districts See Base Erode By Nearly Half a Billion Dollars in One Year"),
• tens of millions of dollars from income taxes, other TIFs, and additional property taxes have been poured into existing TIFs to shore them up (see "Big Time Bailouts of Indy's TIFs"),
• most TIF districts have been growing more slowly than the County as a whole (see "Most Marion County TIF Districts Underperform the County As a Whole"),
• existing TIF districts cause 1/3 of the circuit breaker penalty, directly causing $43 million reduction in collectable taxes and a concomitant reduction in services (see "Frist Do No Harm - Impact of TIFs - Marion County As a Whole")

On Monday night the Council is set to consider Prop 15, which seeks to expand the consolidated downtown TIF in two directions - to the east by 112 acres to finance development on 0.8 acres and to the west by 604 acres to finance development on a couple of blocks.

Shouldn't the impact of current TIFs be considered before more TIFs are piled on?  Unfortunately for all residents of Marion County, but particularly for those in Center and Wayne Township, Councillors did not ask a single question about Prop 15 at the August 27 meeting of the Metropolitan & Economic Development committee meeting.  It was an appalling affair for many reasons.  And the lack of prudent public representation was part of the reason it was appalling.

There is a huge impact on Wayne Township due to the existing TIFs.  Of all taxable property in Wayne Township, 10.9 % is in a TIF district increment and all property taxes flow to the TIF fund and not the schools, libraries, etc.

• for Speedway government and Speedway schools, 19.1 % of total property value is in a TIF
• for Wayne Township government and Wayne Township schools, 9.5 % of total property value is in a TIF

All of the Marion County TIF districts cause a combined

• $175 thousand increase in circuit breaker penalty to the Town of Speedway
• $20 thousand increase in circuit breaker penalty to Speedway City School Corporation
• $1.7 million increase in circuit breaker penalty to the Wayne Township government
• $3.4 million increase in circuit breaker penalty to the MSD Wayne Township School Corporation

There are 6 older and 1 new TIF district in Wayne Township.  None of them have a zero value for the base.

Of the 6 older TIF districts, there was a combined transfer of $118 million from the base to the increment.   Meaning that property taxes from $118 million of property value that was promised to always go to the schools, fire department, etc, is now transferred to the TIF so that it will now and forever be deposited in the TIF fund instead.

• $5.5 million of the amount transferred out of the base was in a Speedway TIF
• $112.9 million of the amount transferred out of the base was from TIFs within Wayne Township, but outside of Speedway.

This is a significant draw down.  The transfer of property value out of the base amounts to 4.4% of the property Wayne Township schools rely upon for funding and 2.0% of the property Speedway schools rely upon for funding.  The impact will be felt in increased taxes and increased circuit breaker penalties.

While very little of the proposed expansion of the downtown TIF appears to be in Wayne Township (the available map is grainy and very difficult to read), its impact needs to be viewed in light of existing conditions within Wayne Township and the impact of existing TIF districts on taxpayers and governmental units.

First Do No Harm - Impact of TIFs - Marion County As a Whole

Many people in positions of power in the County prefer to sell the vision that TIFs create 'found money' that would not have existed but for the TIF, and that the property tax revenues that went to the schools and libraries and IndyGo before the TIF was set up will continue to flow to those units of government after the TIF is set up.

Either they don't know the difference between those fairy tales and reality, or they don't care.

TIF districts in Marion County

• do not fulfill the promise of catalysing economic development that would otherwise not happen (see "Most Marion County TIF Districts Underperform the County As a Whole",
• do not fulfill the promise of securing the property taxes that flowed before the TIF was created (the "base") (see "Marion County's TIF Districts See Base Erode By Nearly Half a Billion Dollars in One Year",
• need bailouts in the tens of millions of dollars every year (see "Big Time Bailouts of Indy's TIFs")
• cost property owners and renters more money, and
• cost the units of government in money they qualify to receive but cannot due to the property tax caps ("circuit breaker penalty").

From the TIF Study Commission Report, Appendix 2, part one (page 6) you can find the impact of the TIF districts on taxpayers and governmental units alike. In total, this table tells us that for 2012, the TIF districts in Marion County

• cost property tax payers an additional $56 million in increased taxes, and,
• cost schools, libraries, etc, $43 million in additional circuit breaker penalties to the governmental units.

Property taxes are passed through to renters, so even those who do not own property are on the hook for a higher cost of living because of TIFs. The loss of revenue to the schools, the library, IndyGo and more, results in loss of services - and $43 million can pay for a lot of services.

The percentage of taxable property tied up in TIF districts and which, therefore, do not contribute tax revenues to the schools, libraries, etc, varies from Township to Township.  From the TIF Study Commission Report, Appendix 2, part two (page 4) you can find the following percentages of taxable property tied up in TIF districts in 2012:

Marion County as a whole --- 8.9 %
Center Township --- 33.3 %
Decatur Township --- 14.0 %
Wayne Township --- 9.5 %
Lawrence Township --- 3.6 %
Warren Township --- 1.1 %
Perry Township --- 0.6 %
Pike Township --- 0.6 %
Washington Township --- 0.3 %
Franklin Township --- 0.1 %

The percentage of taxable property tied up in TIF districts in 2013 has grown to 11.1%, in large measure to $490 million of assessed value being removed from the base and given to the increment.  [The "base" is the part of the TIF district that existed before the TIF district was created.  The "increment" is the part of the TIF district that grew after the district was created plus any value taken from the base and turned into increment over the years.]

For next year, two more TIF districts will see their base drop to zero.  Out of 40 TIF districts, we will have 16 where ZERO tax revenues flow to the schools, libraries, IndyGo, etc.  For 2013 we see 3 TIF districts with an increased base, while 23 have a decreased base.

In the past 4 years we have seen $40.5 million bailouts of the Marion County TIFs districts.  These bailouts came from income taxes, garage receipts from city owned garages, transfers between TIFs, and, startling enough, from increased property taxes outside the TIFs to secure the TIFs.

One can only look at all of this information and conclude - Marion County TIFs are in trouble.  They continue to need more property value extracted from the base and continue to need other tax money to keep them propped up.  The more we keep property off the tax rolls or the more property value we add to the TIF increment, the more it costs taxpayer, residents and businesses to make up the difference.  And, the more property we keep off the tax rolls or the more property value we add to the TIF increment, the more it costs the schools, libraries, and IndyGo in noncollectable revenue due to property tax caps.

The TIF districts that we already have in Marion County are costing us a pretty penny each and every year.  They have not spurred development that would not have otherwise occur.   We should at least ask what impact any new TIF districts will have.  Yet, appallingly enough, not one question was asked about the proposed TIFs at the August 27 meeting of the Metropolitan & Economic Development committee meeting.  Such is the fairy tale and those who do not want to know about the reality of Marion County's TIFs.

Marion County's TIF Districts See Base Erode By Nearly Half a Billion Dollars In One Year

 If you want to continue to believe the outright lies told to you about TIF districts, stop here and do not read any further.

After eroding $43 million in 2010, and less than a million in 2011, the combined assessed value of the base of all of Marion County's TIF districts dropped precipitously in 2012.  The pay2012 assessed value of all taxable property in the base was $1.56 billion.  The pay2013 value is down to $1.07 billion - a staggering loss to the base of $490 million or about a third.

All this while the assessed value of taxable property throughout the County increased a modest 0.8%.

This matters because the base is the property value you were told would always cast its property taxes to your schools and libraries and fire departments, and even the city-county government.  If this doesn't debunk that old lie, nothing will.

Two more TIF districts saw their base AV drop to zero this year; making a total of 17 of 40 districts to have achieved that status.

The TIF districts comprising the consolidated downtown TIF saw a minor gain of $261,618 in base AV.  However, the airport TIF base dropped an incredible $108 million, for just over one third of its prior value.  Congratulations Wayne and Decatur Township taxpayers.  This is a significant number that will cause your tax rates and tax bills to increase, while your schools will find less money in their stockings due to more people hitting the tax caps.

Services don't pay for themselves - taxpayers do.  We all carry the weight of this fiasco.

$489,761,569 drop in TIF base AV

staggering

precipitous

incredible

stunning

astounding

amazing

 

but true

I uploaded a copy of the forms filed by the Auditor this year to determine the new base values for all TIFs in Marion County.  I also uploaded a summary spreadsheet showing the districts and base assessed values that I created from the Auditor's forms.

What's Going On At Early Voting?

Let me say from the outset that I am a big fan of Marion County Clerk, Beth White.  I was not always, but when she stepped up to take the responsibility after her first election went terribly wrong - then made vast improvements over even the previous status quo - well, she earned my admiration.

I fully realize the budget constraints under which her office is operating and White's commitment to the efficient use of taxpayer funds.  But, even with that, I have to question what is being reported by fellow blogger Josh Featherstone over at Featherstone On Government.  I have only recently become aware of Featherstone's blog, but am impressed with the quality of the writing.  I suggest everyone read his latest entry "Problems with Early Voting at the Clerk's Office Today?" in its entirety.

Featherstone relates his experience while voting at the Early Voting Center in the Clerk's Office of the City-County Building.  He points out that the election board is using early voting ballot envelopes that are from the last primary.  Highlighted on those envelopes are the blanks that must be filled in - well, must be filled in if the ballot going into them are primary ballots.  One of the highlighted questions apparently is party affiliation.  Featherstone writes:

The first problems lie at your first stop, the entry desk where you complete the information on your envelope. See, the areas of essential information you need to fill out have been highlighted for you. The problem is, many (if not all) of the envelopes in use are left over from the primary. The problem with that is that the section asking for you to declare a party for your ballot are highlighted.

I'm knowledgeable enough about politics that I am aware that declaration does not occur in a general election, only in a primary. I asked why it was highlighted, the gentleman said it was a leftover from primary and to ignore it. Then the gentleman to my right asked why he had to declare and was told the same thing. The person to my left did not ask, and checked the box for a political party.

It makes me wonder his many people didn't bother or know to ask, and just checked a party. If there, God forbid, was a nefarious election worker, they would then have clear indication of what ballots to "misplace" on election day.

Featherstone hit the nail on the head.  What of the potential for abuse offered by these leftover ballot envelopes.  Elections are not only supposed to be above board, they are supposed to be preventative of abuses. 

I am also left wondering about how these many pre-highlighted ballot envelopes remain from the May primary?  Yes, I can see having leftover envelopes in goodly quantities.  Its just that over 6000 people are reported to have voted early already for the November 8 election.  How is it that there were over 6000 leftover ballots that were already highlighted by hand? 

White's integrity on election matters is above reproach in my mind.  But, what I think does not matter.  The use of old ballot envelopes may be fiscally prudent, but their use with pre-highlighted requests for statement of party affiliation is logically imprudent.  If this election ends up being close, these old ballot envelopes may just be fodder for not only an appeal, but fodder for an electorate who does not recognize the ultimate victor's legitimacy.

Combined, Marion County TIF Districts Lost $28 Million In Base Value In One Year

Taken all together, there was an aggregate loss of $28 million in the base assessed value of the Marion County TIF Districts.  For some background see "TIF Districts - Who Knew The Base Could Drop?".  The cliff notes are that each year the County Auditor sends a form to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for each and every TIF District in the County.  This is vital information for the DLGF and the County in calculating property tax rates.

I mentioned in that July blog entry that there were 15 TIF Districts whose base value had dropped to $0 at some time in the past.  I have now obtained the forms filed for these districts for tax year 2012 and have compared them with those filed last year.  No additional districts saw their base assessed value drop to zero.  But, all districts not at zero base AV, saw the value of the base drop between 2011 and 2012 taxing year.  When a TIF district is begun, the base AV is the value of all property in the district on day zero.  We are led to believe that that property value of the base continues to rise and fall with the market over time, but the taxes collected from those properties will always flow to the "base", or all of the taxing units (schools, townships, library, IndyGo, etc), and not be taken to pay off the TIF debt.  This turns out not to be true.

Combined, as I said above, the drop in Marion County TIF district base AV was $28,093,698.  Part of that drop is due to the fact that property values have dropped as the recession continues.  Using the drop in the total gross assessed value for the entire County as an good estimate of the general drop, we can see a loss of 0.48%.  Applying that percentage to the TIF district base AV, one would expect a drop in value of only $7.5 million.

The TIF Districts that experienced a drop in base AV greater than one expects from the recession were:

From the consolidated downtown TIF (8 districts - 6 at zero base AV)
145 - union station project - dropped $819,419 or 2.50%

From the airport eda (7 districts - 3 at zero base AV, one of which is government owned)
940 - wayne twp airport eda - dropped $1,353,814 or 0.58%
941 - wayne twp airport eda - dropped $7,779,920 or 55.55%

Both Glendale eda TIF districts have base AV's of zero

Other Indianapolis TIF districts (13 districts - 6 at zero base AV)
149 - united nw area - dropped $4,873,206 or 9.86%

From the Beech Grove Hospital TIF (3 districts - none at zero base AV)
170 - beech grove consolidated allocation area - dropped $182,146 or 5.59%

From the Beech Grove Amtrak/Conrail Redev. area (3 districts - none at zero base AV)
552 - south emerson redevelopment area - dropped $133,886 or 2.66%

Lawrence TIFs (3 districts - one with zero base AV and it was government owned) - recession drop only

Speedway TIFs (3 districts - one with zero base AV)
947 - speedway allocation area 2 - dropped $7,369,351 or 9.49%

Inactive TIF districts ( increment value is passed on to base - base is recalculated since TIF district still exists) (3 such districts - one with zero base AV - recession drop only)

Why these particular districts saw extra large drops in base AVs, I have no clue.  But, its a start just to know that they did.  Maybe someone with influence can find out and let the rest of us know.

TIF Districts - Who Knew The Base Could Drop?

I'm sure some folks in Marion County know that the base of a TIF District can drop.  But, not once was that ever indicated while I was present in a discussion of TIF Districts.

A Tax Increment Financing District is an area created to help finance and spur development.  The additional, new, taxes collected after the District is created, go to pay off bonds that were floated to support the new development in some way.  Sometimes the assistance is in the form of infrastructure improvements, like new street, sewers, etc.  Sometimes it is in the form of helping with construction costs. 

I always heard that the property taxes collected from the property prior to the creation of the District would always go to the usual taxing units as it always did before.  The idea is that there is a 'base' assessed value and the property taxes from the base would flow to the schools and townships and library and IndyGo, etc.  Only the taxes from the increased accessed value (or "increment") would be used to pay off the bonds floated for the TIF District.

Well...  turns out not to be the full story.  I obtained copies of a form called "County Auditor's Certificate of Adjustment to the Based Assessed Valuation of TIF Districts" for 40 TIF Districts in Marion County, covering this year's property tax collections.  These forms are submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance by the County Auditor; Billie Breaux in this case.

Overall, the 40 TIF Districts had a combined gross AV of $4.81 billion.  The base AVs had a combined value of $1.45 billion. 

In the period between 2010 and 2011, assessed values all over the County dropped.  If one accounted for that drop, the base should have come in at $1.5 billion.  But, instead, the combined base AV dropped an additional $43.4 million.  That means over the county, individual property taxpayers had to pay a bit more to cover the shift in base AV.

All TIF Districts did not change in like manner.  While none had an increase in base value, after accounting for the general drop in AV due to the economy, 10 stayed the same, 15 were at zero and stayed at zero, and 15 accounted for the $43.4 million drop in base AV (again, after accounting for the effect of the economy on real estate values).

Now, this might be beneficial in the bigger picture, if there were no real growth in AV - since the bills still have to be paid.  But, the AV grew substantially.  All 40 TIF Districts combined for real growth of $203,337,569.  Surely the base could have been maintained with that kind of real, additional growth.  The 10 districts whose base stayed the same (after adjusting for lower real estate values), combined for $133.6 million real growth.  The 15 districts whose base was zero in 2010 and remained zero for 2011, the combined growth was $15.4 million .  And the 15 districts that lost base value combined for a real growth of $45.2 million.  Add that to the loss of base AV, and you have a taxable increase in the "increment" of  $88.7 million.

So, what do we have?  The base AV has always been promised as a continuing source of property tax dollars.  We are always told that we can count on that and the new development will pay for itself and ultimately contribute to us all once the TIF district is retired.  Only they don't retire TIF districts, do they?  Sometimes they DO return all of the tax dollars to the regular taxing units.  For 2012, only 3 TIF Districts will return all the tax dollars to these regular taxing units, down from 5 Districts doing so in 2011.  But, we were lulled into thinking that at least we had the taxes from the base to keep us going.

But, nooooo..... Excluding areas owned by government, the initial base AV of a TIF District cannot be zero.  The fact that by 2010, 15 had sunk to zero AV, suggests the erosion of the base AV over time.  Now, two of those 15 are or were owned by the government, so zero AV is understandable in those two cases.   Of the remaining 13, though, fewer and fewer property tax dollars flowed to the regular taxing units from TIF District areas, and that means the rest of us picked up the slack in our tax bills.

The way this particular DLGF form recalculating the base AV works, there can never be an increase in the base AV (outside of an increase in real estate values generally).  Once the base AV reaches zero, there can be no increase, even with an increase in real estate values generally. 

I do have to wonder what the initial base AVs were for all of our TIF Districts and what the full extent of the erosion in that base AV has been.

This raises a lot of questions about what can or should be done to fulfill the promise that if we create a TIF District, well at least we can count on the base AV to support our schools and libraries and public transportation and township/fire safety.

Meanwhile, there is enough to do, just to digest the meaning of base AV in a TIF District.

Debt Held By Marion County Taxing Units

I have long been wondering how much debt is held by all of the various taxing units within Marion County.  I now have the information, as provided to me by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.  These data were reported to the DLGF and reflect bonds and loans indebting the taxpayers of the various units on December 31, 2010.  There was no mention for Decatur, Center, or Washington Townships and I have, or am attempting to submit, an open records request to each of them. [edited to add: Decatur Township has the debt indicated in the table below; edited to add: Washington Township has no debt] Neither Warren nor Wayne Townships were listed in the DLGF information, but I was able to obtain those numbers today.  I failed to notice that Southport was not included until I began writing this up, and so have not yet made a request for their debt information. [edited to add: I also missed the City of Lawrence and will contact them]

The total debt (minus Southport, Center Township and Lawrence) at the end of 2010 was $6,777,164,786.  That amounts to $7500 per man, woman, and child in our County.

Below is a breakdown of the data by taxing unit.  I combined the City and County with debt for the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) and Health & Hospitals as there were bonds that were attributed to each whose purpose was for another and it would leave a wrong impression to separate them out.  For instance, there were bonds whose purpose was listed as Wishard, but some being the responsibility of the County and other of H&H.  Also, water company bonds are included in that combined category (I found bonds totalling about $818 million that referenced 'water utility' or 'water system'; I'm not sure which bonds and debt will be taken over by Citizens Energy as part of the sale of the water and sewer utilities).

Taxing Unit	Debt Dec 31, 2010
City, County, CIB, H&H	$3,363,009,346
IMCPL (Library)	100,345,000
IndyGo	29,890,000
Airport	1,204,805,000
MSD Decatur Township	159,641,968
Franklin Tnsp Comm School Corp	247,941,361
MSD Lawrence Township	211,025,794
MSD Perry Township	145,727,199
MSD Pike Township	64,185,000
MSD Washington Township	78,714,000
MSD Wayne Township	283,699,131
Beech Grove City School Corp	50,110,205
IPS	721,382,739
Speedway City School Corp	no debt listed
Center Township	not reporting
Decatur Township	2,093,938
Franklin Township	1,193,525
Lawrence Township	2,000,000
Perry Township	no debt listed
Pike Township	no debt listed
Warren Township	no debt
Washington Township	no debt
Wayne Township	152,282
Speedway City Civil Town	74,451,630
Homecroft Civil Town	no debt listed
Rocky Ripple Civil Town	no debt listed
Southport	not reporting
Spring Hill Civil Town	no debt listed
Tri-County Conservancy Dist (serves Heartland Crossing	11,495,000

Flurry of City County Council Committee Meetings

This week will be a full one for committees of the City-County Council. The public notices can be found here.

The Metropolitan Development Committee meets Monday night at 5:30 pm in room 260 of the City County Building. On their agenda is Prop 298, which would do a couple of things. It would move the business of towing of vehicles to the Department of Code Enforcement to contract out, and authorize the Code Enforcement Officers of that Department to have vehicles declared a public nuisance and be towed. Currently, only Police Officers are authorized to do so. The language of the proposed ordinance seems to imply that instead of multiple towing companies, each contracted for its services within specific geographic 'zones', there would be only one towing company awarded the contract for the entire City.

The Rules Committee meets Tuesday night - same time, same place. Their agenda has two particular proposals that caught my eye. First is Prop 225, introduced back in August. It would require that contracts for all construction projects over $250,000 for the City or any of its agencies and Municipal Corporations, be awarded only to companies that meet certain criteria. Among those criteria is the requirement that 67% of their workforce be Marion County residents, and 60% of the subcontractors must have businesses that are owned and based in Marion County. The companies must also have 15% of its workforce from an apprentice or training program, all of whom must be City and County residents. After that is Prop 377, which would allow donations to the City at the same time as taxpayers pay their property taxes. The Committee will also get updated on the fiscal impact of the Police and Fire contracts.

The Committee on Committees meets right after the Rules Committee, in the President's Conference Room. The agenda only mentions 'Committee Assignments'.

On Wednesday night, the North of South deal comes before the Economic Development Committee. This committee will meet at 5:30 pm, in room 260 of the City-County Building. Curiously enough, Prop 247 has been moved from the Admin & Finance Committee, where it was originally assigned. This proposal would refinance the 1991 Harding Street TIF bonds and increase the principle enough to repay Lilly for an associated loan of $15 million. The total new principle would become $45 million (the original principle back in 1991 was $35 million). This is part of the North of South deal, in that this money has been earmarked for Lilly to give to the developer as part of their financing. Prop 292, which contains the meat of the North of South deal, is noted to be "For purposes of public testimony only. No vote is expected at this meeting.". This proposal would allow the City to float $98 million in bonds, secured by property tax revenues from the consolidated downtown TIF district. This money would be 'loaned' to the No-So developer. All property taxes derived from the development, would be applied to the repayment of the loan - resulting in a 10 year 100% abatement for the developer. You will recall that no bank found this development sound enough for a loan. The City would become a first mortgage holder on the project and assume the risk. The developer only has to come up with $6 million cash for a project that is claimed to be valued at over $155 million.

Thursday night, the Public Works Committee rounds out the week, with Prop 393, an interlocal agreement with the Town of Fishers for road work within Marion County, at our mutual border. Among other things, Fishers would be authorized to use eminent domain within Marion County, only to acquire right of way for improvements to the intersection of 96th Street and Allisonville Road. This committee will meet at 5:30 pm in room 260 of the City-County Building.

City Budget Hearings This Week

This week includes three nights of budget hearings before various committees of the City-County Council.

Up tonight is the budget for the Department of Metropolitan Development. After a copious injection of federal stimulus dollars last year and this, the budget is falling back to the pre-downturn days. In a budget of $35 million, roughly $6 million will go to personal services (salaries and benefits), and the vast vast majority of $29 million will pass through to 'other services and charges' (contracts, rent, etc.).

Tuesday night, the budgets for Information Services Agency ($34 m), County Assessor ($7.6 m), and Telecom & Video Services ($0.5 m) will be discussed. ISA (the IT service for the City and County) has been steadily growing in staff budget -- almost doubling from $2.5 m in 2008 to a proposed $4.3 m for 2011. It will be interesting to see why they need a $3.7 m increase in professional services contracts. The total budget request is for an overall increase of $1.6 m. The County Assessor budget for salaries has been steadily dropping from the days of reassessment; with a further drop of about $300,000 this year to $5.8 m. The Telecom folks are most notable for WCTY broadcasts. While bringing in an estimated $8.5 m from cable franchise fees, they will only spend about $0.5 m; the remainder of the revenue goes to the County fund.

Wednesday night its time for reviewing the Circuit Court ($1 m), Superior Court ($52 m), County Clerk ($6 m), and County Sheriff ($103 m). The Circuit Court budget has bounced a tiny bit over the past few years, but the lion's share goes to salaries - $767,900 for 2011. $36 m of the Superior Court budget would go to personnel, down $2 m from this year. A drop in ISA charges and 'other services' and equipment costs account for the other million dollars in budget reductions. Keeping the trend alive, the Clerk's budget is primarily for personnel, which is being reduced by $200,000 for 2011. The total budget is reduced by about half that for 2011. The Sheriff's budget on the revenue side, anticipates a big spike in income from 'emergency 911' taxes - going from $0.2 m this year to $1.0 m next. Also changing is an increase in federal grants from $0.8 m this year to $1.4 m next and a drop in reimbursements from interlocal agreements from $5 m this year to $3.8 m next. Overall, Sheriff revenues are proposed to drop by $0.5 m. Expenses, however, are proposed to drop by $4.5 m; back to their 2008 levels. Salaries weigh in at $61.5 m, down $0.7 m from this year, but still $7 m more than 2008. Supplies are set to drop by $1.4 m, due mostly to savings in 'garage & motor supplies', 'general office supplies', and 'repair parts', all of which are the same or more than those items in 2008. $2.6 m is being cut from 'other services & charges', due mostly to a drop in 'equipment repair', 'ISA charges', and 'professional services' contracts, and 'other services & charges'.

Two Council Committees Review Budgets This Week

The City-County Council's Administration and Finance committee and the Public Safety committee will consider budgets this week. They will also take public comment on these particular budgets. Both meet in room 260 of the City-County Building and begin at 5:30 pm.

On Tuesday, September 7, the Admin & Finance committee takes a look at the budgets for the City-County Council and Clerk, the Election Board, Voter Registration, the Marion County Recorder, and the Marion County Surveyor. Each of these budgets are summarized in the budget summary book, published online. See pages 64, 80, 82, 84, and 88, of the pdf, respectively.

The City-County Council is asking for $1,669,793, down from this year's $1,752,448. But, this year includes an extraordinary item - $290,000 for redistricting. At last year's budget hearing, Melissa Thompson, Clerk of the Council, and then-President Bob Cockrum testified that they would begin redistricting late in 2010 and ask for a like amount for early 2011. this proposal has drawn quite a bit of flack, including from me (see "Budget Hearings -- All Admin & Finance Committee Budgets") as being premature, given that the 2010 census figures will not be available in time for this scheduled redistricting and the process would have to be repeated in 2012 to comply with state law.

The Election Board budget is proposed to be $3,310,790, down from this year's $3,495,492.

The Voter Registration budget proposal is for $954,467, down from this year's $1,001,080.

The Marion County Recorder budget is $1,883,650, down from $2,040,540 this year.

The Marion County Surveyor budget is $559,476, up from $500,514.

The Public Safety committee will consider the budgets for County Coroner, Forensic Service Agency, and Community Corrections. You can find their budgets on pages 24, 22, 34 of the pdf, respectively.

The Coroner's budget is being proposed at $4,238,727, up significantly from last year's $2,980,769. The increases are in salaries, professional services contracts, and office furniture & equipment (see pages 50-51 of the 'Expenses by Agency' book). Federal grants are expected to jump from $53,050 this year, to $1,391,109 next.

The budget for the Forensic Service Agency is $6,612,483, up from $6,139,938 this year. The increases appear to be mostly for increased personnel costs, laboratory supplies, conference & travel expenses, maintenance/licensing agreements, professional services contracts, and equipment (see pages 68-69 of the 'Expenses by Agency' book). Both federal grants and money from the county general fund are proposed to increase.

The Community Corrections budget is proposed at $9,546,942, down from $10,441,410 this year. Major cuts in funding from Home Detention and federal stimulus money could be important factors, driving the cuts.

Public Notices - Township, City, and Town Budgets Galore

Tons of public notices of 2011 budget hearings in today's Indianapolis Star.

Perry Township is estimating a total budget of $1,289,045, with a max of $381,060 to come from property taxes, up from $346,557 this year. Their public hearing will be held on October 5 at 7:00 pm at 4925 S. Shelby. they expect to vote on the budget on October 19.

The City of Lawrence is estimating a maximum total budget of $30,636,000, with an estimated maximum from property taxes of $11,250,000, up from $8,923,358 this year. they will hold their public hearing on September 15 at 6:30 pm at 9001 E. 59th Street. They expect to vote on the budget on November 1.

The Town of Cumberland estimates a maximum budget of $4,511,568, with a maximum of $2,628,246 coming from property taxes, up from $2,111,967 this year. Their public hearing will be on September 15 at 7:00 pm at 11501 E. Washington Street. They expect to vote on the budget on October 6.

Pike Township estimates a maximum total budget of $24,237,505, with a max of $15,149,087 coming from property taxes, up from $12,055,773 this year. The public hearing will be on September 21 at 5:30 pm at 5665 Lafayette Road. they will vote on the final budget on October 19.

The City of Beech Grove is estimating a budget of $10,223,602, with $6,711,604 from property taxes, up from $5,576,089 this year. The public hearing will be on October 11 at 7:00 pm at 5245 Hornet Avenue. the budget will be voted upon on October 25.

Center Township estimates a total budget of $9,777,373, with $2,678,968 coming from property taxes, unchanged from this year. the hearing will be September 14 at 5:00 pm at 300 E. Fall Creek Parkway. they will vote on the budget at their October 26 meeting.

Decatur Township estimates a total budget of $9,186,657, with $7,160,929 coming from property taxes, up from $5,474,087 this year. The hearing will be on October 12 at 5:30 pm at 5410 S. High School Road. they will vote on the budget at their October 26 meeting.

Lawrence Township estimates a maximum budget of $17,397,258, with $16,877,834 coming from property taxes, up from $11,936,121 this year. They will hold a public hearing on September 23 at 6:00 pm at 9001 E. 59th Street. They will vote on the budget at their October 19 meeting.

The Tri-County Conservancy District (in Heartland Crossing) estimates a maximum total budget of $3,151,833, with $565,000 coming from property taxes, down slightly from this year's $569,908. They will hold a public hearing on October 12 at 9:00 am at 8355 Rockville Road. They expect to vote on the budget on October 26.

The Indianapolis International Airport estimates a total budget of $250,003,706, with no money coming from property taxes, unchanged from this year. The full City-County Council will hold a public hearing on this and other budgets on September 20 beginning at 7:00 pm in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building. The City-County Council Municipal Corporations committee will hold a hearing on October 11 beginning at 5:30 pm in room 260 of the City-County Building. The full Council is expected to vote on this budget at their October 25 meeting.

Educational Progress in Area Districts (2006-2008)

The Indianapolis Business Journal has an informative article, currently online, about the progress school districts in the 8-county region achieved during 2006-2008. They also relate the information in a map format that is easy to read, and therefore quite informative.

Norm Heikens, IBJ reporter, opens up his piece with:

Some unsung local school districts are better than the most glamorous districts at improving their students’ academic performance, an IBJ analysis of new figures from the Indiana Department of Education suggests.

Warren Township outpaces Carmel-Clay.

Franklin Township outshines Hamilton Southeastern.

Indianapolis Public Schools upstages Zionsville.

To be clear, students in the less affluent districts do not score higher on tests than their counterparts in the prestigious districts. And not even the most enthusiastic supporters of the new “growth model” way of measuring students and schools are prepared to say, for instance, that Warren is necessarily a better district than Carmel.

But the 2006-2008 figures, made available to schools in January and the public a few weeks later, show that some districts facing overwhelming odds in the form of poverty and absentee parents are arguably among the best at getting the most from their students.

Heikens goes into good detail about the success, as measured in ISTEP score improvement in Warren Township and IPS, as well as looking at Washington Township schools as a high achieving district with lower levels of improvement in scores.

This analysis is complex, grouping children by ISTEP scores with other children who obtained the same score throughout the state. They then measured the improvement in test scores of those children as compared with their peers. The analysis pulled together the improvement in ISTEP scores of all children within any school district - compared with how each child's peers fared in other districts throughout the state. So, bottom line, this analysis is presented in a clear fashion, but the analysis underpinning it, is complex and reflects more than the change in average test scores district to district. It is an attempt to hold districts accountable for the advancement of student learning as compared to student learning throughout the state, child by child.

The school districts are categorized by the State Department of Education, as High Achieving or Low Achieving, according to the % of students passing ISTEP. They are also categorized as High Growth or Low Growth, according to the improvement in the test scores over the 2006-2008 time frame, using this child by child improvement analysis. While the IBJ lists all school districts in the 8-county region, below I just pulled out the Marion County school district information. But, do look at the map for a broader perspective. The 8-county rank is based on the ISTEP score improvement among the 44 school districts in the region.

District (8-county rank) MATH	state rating	2008 % passing	change from 2006(% points)
MSD Warren Tnsp (1)	HG/HA	57	+16
Franklin Tnsp Comm. (2)	HG/HA	60	+14
Town of Speedway (3)	HG/HA	57	+11
IPS (4)	LG/LA	45	+9
MSD Perry Tnsp (6)	HG/HA	61	+8
MSD Wayne Tnsp (10)	HG/LA	50	+7
MSD Decatur Tnsp (18)	LG/LA	45	+4
MSD Pike Tnsp (26)	LG/LA	46	0
Beech Grove (28)	LG/HA	49	-1
MSD Lawrence Tnsp (32)	LG/LA	48	-1
MSD Washington Tnsp (33)	LG/HA	46	-2

District (8-county rank) ENGLISH	state rating	2008 % passing	change from 2006 (% points)
MSD Warren Tnsp (4)	HG/LA	50	+7
Franklin Tnsp Comm. (6)	HG/HA	58	+6
MSD Wayne Tnsp (13)	LG/LA	47	+4
IPS (18)	LG/LA	42	+2
MSD Perry Tnsp (19)	HG/HA	54	+2
MSD Pike Tnsp (20)	LG/LA	49	+2
MSD Washington Tnsp (27)	LG/HA	49	-1
MSD Lawrence Tnsp (30)	LG/LA	49	-2
MSD Decatur Tnsp (39)	LG/LA	41	-5
Town of Speedway (42)	LG/HA	48	-6
Beech Grove (43)	LG/HA	47	-8

As the ISTEP data for 2009 and 2010 come out, the DOE will plug those numbers into this student achievement growth model. This is and will continue to be a very interesting approach to analyzing how well school districts are doing at improving the education of their students.

Public Notices -- Warren Township & IndyGo

Today's Indianapolis Star has public notice of two budget estimates.

Warren Township posts an estimated budget of $1,752,822, and an estimated maximum property tax levy of $250,000, down from this year's $276,097. The Board will hold a public hearing on September 14 at 5:30 pm at 501 North Post Road. They are expected to vote on the budget on October 26. The City-County Council's Municipal Corporations Committee will hold a non-binding review of all Township budgets, including this one, on September 28 at 5:30 pm, in room 260 of the City-County Building.

The IndyGo estimated 2011 budget amounts to $64,859,100 and they estimate a maximum property tax levy of $25,470,154, up from this year's $20,668,415. They note also that the maximum levy limitation is (only) $21,000,000. the IndyGo Board will hold a public hearing on the budget August 19 at 5:00 pm at 1501 W. Washington Street. The Board is expected to vote on the budget on August 30. The City-County Council's Municipal Corporations Committee will review this budget on September 27, beginning at 5:30 pm, in room 260 of the City-County Building. The full Council will hold a public hearing on all budget matters, including this one, at its September 20 meeting.

Get Your Waders On - Marion County Tax Cap Credits for 2010

The tax caps are now fully in effect for property taxes in Indiana. Homestead property is capped at 1%, farms and rental property caps come in at 2%, and commercial real estate is capped at 3% of the GROSS Assessed Value.

Tax cap credits were applied to all properties whose tax bill was going to be greater than the percentage allowed by the tax cap for that type of property. If your bill was going to be $1251, and the tax caps only allowed a maximum of $1000, then your 'tax cap credit' is $251. Tax cap credits are called 'circuit breaker credits' as well.

Well, we now have the total amount of circuit breaker credits issued in Marion County for 2010. Thanks to Mike Rodman, Marion County Treasurer, and Cindy Land, Administrative Deputy, for providing me with the information.

I did a little crunching of the numbers to bring them to the level of the circuit breaker credit applied by Township. Below I also list the property tax 'levy', which is what the bills would have totaled without the tax caps. The '%' column shows the circuit breaker credit as a percentage of the 'levy'.

	LEVY	Circuit Breaker Credit	%
Center	$136,294,039	$13,320,476	9.8%
Decatur	35,771,565	4,381,038	12.2%
Franklin	65,315,789	16,053,299	24.6%
Lawrence	115,826,538	6,933,160	6.0%
Perry	82,864,464	4,029,404	4.9%
Pike	106,431,438	2,352,852	2.2%
Warren	86,482,678	3,896,972	4.5%
Washington	158,059,289	10,323,966	6.5%
Wayne	122,517,578	14,005,273	11.4%
Marion County Total	909,563,378	75,296,439	8.3%

Obviously, Franklin Township stands out with a quarter of all property taxes given a tax cap credit. Even looking at it as a total dollar amount, Franklin Township scored the highest with over $16 million in credits, besting far more developed Townships.

Overall, property taxpayers saved an aggregate of $75 million in 2010 on property taxes due to the new property tax caps.