Neither Mayor Cares What You Think

Neither Mayor Ballard nor Mayor Vaughn care what you think.  Not about anything.

The latest example is the acceptance of the Mass Ave project announce yesterday.  The process could have included a public showing of all competing designs so the affected neighborhoods could comment.  It did not.  There wasn't any public process.

There should be clawbacks in the project agreement regarding any final design passing muster with our laws.  I have requested the RFP and all submitted proposals - I'll let you know if there is any such stipulation.  It would be a welcome precedent, if such a stipulation was in place, but I'm not holding my breath.

Now, like the Broad Ripple parking garage, variances are required to actually make the winning design compliant with our laws.  And, not just any aspect of the design - the centerpiece Times Square LED HD screen is a violation of our sign ordinance and is nowhere near a fit with the historic neighborhood in which it would lie.  Its not an accent piece, like some brightly colored throw pillow on an earth tone sofa.  Its a glaring, possibly blaring, monster truck wheel on an Amish buggy.  So, what if it is denied by the BZA and the Historic Preservation Commission? 

 One of Mayor Vaughn's goals for his first term, is to make sure the Boards and Commissions give up any independent thought when it comes to issues Vaughn holds dear - like throwing public dollars needlessly at developers. Expect an extreme amount of pressure to be put on those members of the BZA and the IHPC.

They say that the relocation of the fire station that now occupies the parcel is still under consideration.  So, you'll believe that I'm a true psychic if I tell you it will be located on the north end of 510 N. College.

If I'm wrong, then the fire station location could be opened for public comment - just like it should be.  I'd prefer to be wrong, but I'm not - I'm psychic.

Meanwhile, you might like the new design and all that it implies for the future 'scene' on Mass Ave, or you may not.  It really doesn't matter.

What's Going On With TIFs?

For the second consecutive meeting of the Metropolitan and Economic Development committee, the Mid-North TIF (prop 291) was postponed - now to November 26.  Ostensibly it was due to sponsor Councillor John Barth's drafting of an amendment, which he told a couple of us who attended the meeting, was still a concept in his head.  He did promise to have the Council office post his amendment online in advance of the November 26 in order to give the public a chance to review it prior to that meeting.

The committee also postponed to November 26, two proposals on the TIF Study Commission recommendations - Prop 274 urging the MDC to adopt those recommendations pertinent to them, and Prop 275 urging the General Assembly to adopt recommendations that fall in their wheelhouse.  Although these proposals were introduced before the Mid-North TIF proposal, this was the first time they were actually placed on a committee agenda.

Also being delayed from any actual agenda, is the reintroduced TIF proposed for the Meadows area - formerly Prop 16, declared dead when Prop 15 was not.  This is the proposed expansion of the Fall Creek TIF and now is alive as Prop 349.

The Council has 45 days to put an introduced proposal on a committee agenda, and November 26 will come in just under the wire at 42 days.

Tonight's Rules committee meeting will entertain Prop 316 for the second time.  This proposal seeks the enactment of the TIF Study Commission recommendations that the Council can do something about.  You will recall that Barth authored a poison pill amendment that would have gutted the recommendations, the last time the committee met.  (see "Dust Up For Reasons Unknown - But I Speculate Anyway") We shall see if he still tries to do so.

It is obvious that the Democratic caucus is dysfunctional when it comes to TIF policy.  That is very unfortunate for the economic health of Indianapolis going forward.  We simply cannot absorb square mile after square mile of new TIFs - ones that primarily benefit well to do areas of our City to boot - without harming all of our governmental units' ability to deliver the services we are actually paying taxes to get.

Tonight is an opportunity to return the horse to the front of the cart, and let the Council adopt the well considered recommendations for full disclosure, transparency, and accountability that the public deserves regarding TIF district establishment and maintenance. 

S#*! My Mayor Says

Unbelievable.  Mayor Ballard is on break from his four year world tour and he has time to relay lies to the Republican caucus of the Council AND put out a press release moments after the Council passed a balanced budget; albeit a budget altered from the one Ballard titularly introduced not long ago.

Thanks to Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana for filling us in on some of the Mayor's ribbon cutting interrupted schedule tonight in his post "Ballard Lies: Tells Councilors Homestead Credit Only Benefits The Rich".

Here's the funniest line in the press release:

The Council majority's current plan is unfunded, increases spending, more than doubles the deficit for 2014, and strips support of our downtown economy in order to give tax breaks to a select few.
 

Well, it is balanced, therefore funded.

It increases spending - most spectacularly for the Parks budget where the demon D's had the unmitigated gaul to add $400,000 to pay the utility bills - which were left unfunded by our oh-so-funny Mayor.  There are smaller increases and reductions elsewhere, but all leading to a balance budget.

What has the Mayor miffed, is they declined his invitation to eliminate the homestead credit and rather knocked at the door of the CIB for additional money - which is not appropriated and not part of the actual budget.  As Councillor Brown phrased it tonight, it simply gives the Mayor the wherewithal to fulfill his promises.

The supposed deficit for 2014 - there is no deficit if Mayor Vaughn, acting Mayor while Ballard oversees ribbon cutting and world tour venue selection, doesn't instruct the CIB to file a lawsuit over the PILOT.  Duh !

And lastly, oh so over the top - yes folks, the 'end times for downtown' are BACK and Better Than Ever !!!  The golden oldies never let you down.  The Mayor's press release actually says the revised budget  "... strips support of our downtown economy in order to give tax breaks to a select few".  Precious !

Councillor Caldwell even said at tonight's Council meeting , and I swear he wasn't even chocking back a guffaw, the CIB PILOT was "putting 70,000 jobs downtown at risk".  Now that's Mayoral potential for you; to actually spit that sentence out without turning beet red from the embarrassment.

As for those "select few" - Now we all know full well that Mayor Ballard and Mayor Vaughn know what they are talking about when they talk about a select few benefiting to the detriment of the many.  So, I assume they will be recalling this part of their press release like so much salmonella infected melons once they realize their error.  The select few, according to the City's Controller, Jeff Spalding, add up to 198,049 homeowners who would pay $4.4 million more in property taxes if the homestead credit is eliminated.  And, you'd have to add all of the school districts in Marion County who would be penalized by an aggregate $3.4 million dollars.  And, also the Library, IndyGo and Health & Hospitals who would be penalized by an aggregate $1.3 million.  Those "select few".  How dare the Democrats put the CIB ahead of them and ask the CIB to contribute to the cost of the police and fire protection they consume in vast quantities any time they sponsor an event downtown !

I don't know if William Shattner is available to play another curmudgeonly old guy who utters the most inane remarks, but if he is - we have a real chart topping hit on our hands ! America will be rolling in the aisles.

Eliminating the Homestead Credit - Its Not About Class Warfare

Some are using the complexity the effect eliminating the homestead credit would have on tax bills, to suggest its about class warfare.  This is unfortunate and demeans an important conversation our community should be having on the issue.

For those readers who do not want to don the hip boots and wade through the numbers and increasing variables set out below, the short version is this:

Generally speaking, eliminating the homestead credit will increase the property tax bills of those homeowners living in lower tax areas more than those living in higher tax areas.

Now, get those hip boots out.

Here is the County-wide view, which I have put into graph form.  The data were presented by City Controller, Jeff Spalding, to the Admin & Finance Committee earlier this month.

1) This chart shows the assessed value of homes in Marion County along the bottom axis.  The left axis and the blue bars show the number of homes that fit each assessed value category.  The right axis and red line shows the percentage of the homestead credit by which property tax bills would increase if the homestead credit were eliminated.   Now these are totals for all of Marion County and the percentage is using the aggregated numbers that include those who have hit the tax caps and those who have not. 

Those with lower valued homes will have to pay a higher percentage of the homestead credit they now enjoy, because the tax caps hit higher value homes first. Those who already hit the tax caps, would see little to no change in their tax bill because the tax cap credit would simply increase by the amount now coming from the homestead credit. 

For further complication, please note that the homestead credit is a percentage of the value of the home.  So, those with higher value homes get larger homestead credits.   But, even with that, given the large number of homes valued less than $150,000, the majority of the tax increase will be borne by those homeowners.  Throughout Marion County, tax bills would increase by $4.4 million if the homestead credit were eliminated.  $3.4 million of that total would be from increases in property tax bills of those with homes valued at less than $150,000.

2)  This chart shows the tax increases possible in $10 increments along the bottom axis.  The left axis and blue bars shows the average value of the home that would see each tax increase.  The right axis and red line show the number of homes that would see each tax increase.

About 38% of all homeowners would see little or no tax increase because they already hit the tax caps (first two blue bars).  Those homes valued higher, hit the tax caps first, and few actually will see the $100 tax bill increase.  46,397 homeowners would see a tax increase between $10 and $20, their average home value is $103,227, and together they would pay an additional $2,031,602 if the homestead credit were eliminated.  99 homeowners would see a tax increase greater than $100, their average home value is $368,674, and together they would pay an additional $14,388.

So, eliminating the homestead credit has little to do with rich folks paying their due.  The tax increases will tend to hit those with lower value homes.  If you live in a higher tax area, then you'd escape a tax increase for a home value lower than someone living in a lower tax area.   2012 tax rates vary from 4.88 in Beech Grove to 1.95 in parts of Washington Township, so you can see the high level of variability involved in which homeowners would get hit with tax increases if the homestead credit were eliminated.  But, the best generalization is that those in lower property tax areas will see a greater increase in their property tax bills if the homestead credit is eliminated.

There are a goodly number of the variables involved in who would see a tax increase, not to mention the additional variables involved in how much each school district gets hit with circuit breaker penalties if the homestead credit is eliminated.  It is easy to want someone to give us simplified cause and effect summaries.  Unfortunately, the homestead credit elimination isn't easily captured in a simple statement.  There are many variables, many pluses (depending upon where you live and what the value of your home is) and many negatives (depending upon which taxing unit gets income tax revenues in addition to property tax revenues - and how much of each).

The Councillors are right to be cautious.  Let's face it, even the Controller labels it a tax increase.  What it is not is class warfare.

CIB Tapped For $15 Million PILOT

The Municipal Corporations committee of the City-County Council added a $15 million payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) obligation to the CIB's 2013 budget last night, by a party line 5-3 vote.

You can watch the entire hearing by visiting the WCTY archives.

You can expect that unelected Mayor Vaughn (sitting in for Mayor Greg Ballard who is on a four year world tour) did not like the outcome. And you can expect that any action taken by the CIB in response to the PILOT, will be action dictated by Vaughn.

There was much legal wrangling during the meeting between Councillor Bob Lutz, Council Counsel Fred Biesecker, and CIB Attorney Toby McClamrock.  The bones of contention revolved around a) whether adding a paragraph requiring the PILOT was an additional appropriation (which is not allowed under state law), b) whether an assessed value made after March 1 can be used to levy taxes in 2013, or if they must wait until 2014, and c) whether ordinary tax procedures apply to PILOTs anyway.  McClamrock hoisted the flag of - we may not pay it anyway - to see who saluted, but no responses were made from either side of the aisle.

On the actual meat of the reasons for this PILOT, Councillor Brian Mahern kept bringing it back to the fact that the Mayor's proposed budget would let police and fire numbers drop even further.  He said there are already 100 fewer police than at the time of the merger and by not holding recruit classes, the numbers would drop even further.  He noted as well, that the CIB relies heavily upon IFD and IMPD services for the many events that are held in their facilities.

While Councillor Lutz primarily discussed the legal aspects, Councillor Cardwell brought up all the trickle down taxes that he said were due to the CIB, indicating that was more than enough help to the City.

Ann Lathrop mentioned "I feel your pain" and later said she had a fiduciary responsibility to the CIB "not to run it into bankruptcy".  Oh pah-leez on both counts.

The CIB has had more than enough cash to give $10 million for each of the last three years to the Pacers and at the same time increase its year end 2009 cash balance from $26 million to a year end 2012 cash balance expected to be $76 million.  They also have so much money that they are proposing that all of an anticipated $4 million gained from the sale of one of its buildings be simply given to the ICVA - over and above the $9 million the CIB usually gives them.

Unfortunately for the CIB, their believability index runs near the empty mark for much of the public and some elected officials as well.

Is this PILOT the perfect solution?  No.  But the Mayor isn't offering any solutions at all to the drop in IFD and IMPD counts that would be caused by having no recruit classes.  I'm very glad that someone is stepping up to the plate and getting some solutions in place.

In the age of tax caps, the city does have to rethink some of its own self inflicted revenue hits - especially not sunsetting TIF districts that are no longer in debt.  They should rethink the airport keeping hundreds of acres of land, that it does not need for aviation purposes, off the tax rolls.  With the Great Recession still upon us, the city budget has to make it through a few more years with services intact.  This year's challenges include the recruit classes.

The CIB is given special treatment each year because they are key to the ever sacred cow - sports.  IndyGo is running on bare bones and told to dig to dangerous levels in their cum fund to survive.  The Library has had to cut employees and hours over the last few years.  Its not asking all that much for the CIB to help out here.

The budget goes to the full Council Monday night.  Come January 10, 2013, when the PILOT is due, we'll see if the CIB pays up, or if Vaughn has them fight it out in court.

The Plot Thickens

Public notice just went out that an additional meeting of the Admin & Finance committee of the City-County Council will be held at 5:30 pm, Monday evening.  This would be just prior to the full Council meeting where the budget must be adopted.

The sole agenda item is that committee's portion of the budget - which include all of the actual funds held by the City as well as the individual budgets for the Mayor's office, Council office, and County offices and the like.

Thank Goodness Jon Murray Is Back

Jon Murray, City Hall beat reporter for the Indy Star, is back from vacation.  And, its about time, I tell you.  Now we can get some real information about what's going on behind the scenes with the budget.

I've not been able to post about the last couple of night's meetings, and will catch up with that after I tell you what Murray is reporting about tonight's important CIB budget meeting.

The Democrats haven't collapsed after all - as seemed at last night's Public Safety committee meeting.  They are still eyeballing the CIB for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), and in addition, are lusting after some of the $80 million Rebuild Indy stabilization fund.

Murray reports:

Already, moves by the council — including a successful bid by a committee Tuesday, with help from Republicans, to save a property tax credit targeted for elimination — have rattled the Ballard administration.

Thursday, another committee could vote to extract a $10 million to $15 million payment from the city’s sports and convention board.

Council Democrats’ aim: to sock away money to help pay for recruit classes of 50 police officers and 30 firefighters next year as the city contends with declining ranks.

The latest estimates pin the cost at $4.2 million for the police officers and $500,000 for the firefighters. (The Indianapolis Fire Department is seeking a federal grant to cover most of its cost.)
....
Council President Maggie Lewis said that besides the CIB payment, Democrats also are eying about $13 million that remains in the city’s rainy day fund, as well as a stabilization fund that contains $80 million. Ballard created that fund last year using money from the utilities sale to help maintain the city’s AAA credit rating.
 

The image that has been developing in my head is one of a leaky boat with a captain who is using the spare wood to build a tiki bar.  That kind of sums up what I see the Ballard administration doing by creating TIFs to capture known private investment (aka Mass Ave TIF) instead of letting the coming property taxes flow to the schools and city alike, by not sunsetting TIFs, by the airport holding on to land that should be turned over to the tax rolls.  I think Ballard/Vaughn's game plan is to allow deterioration of police and  fire numbers in order to get the public to back new taxes.

I was disheartened after last night's budget amendments didn't contain any contractual raises for IFD and IMPD, nor funding for any recruit classes either.  While Murray doesn't note the raises, at least he let us know that the Democrats leading the Council are all for keeping the IFD and IMPD head counts from dropping further.

The CIB budget hearing will be held in room 107 of the city-county building, beginning at 5:30.  The DPW budget will be discussed at the same time in room 260.

Now, if we can only talk Murray into coordinating his time off with slow need-to-know news weeks....