Pro Mass Transit Star Columnist Drives Car Registered In Ohio

Fellow blogger Paul Ogden picked up on this little gem while attending the IndyCAN meeting in Carmel promoting a community conversation on mass transit last night. Star columnist Erika Smith, who has penned numerous columns this year unabashedly promoting IndyConnect's legislative agenda to create an unelected, unaccountable metropolitan transit authority with taxing powers to oversee a multi-billion dollars mass transit boondoggle, showed up at the event driving an automobile with license plate tags issued by the state of Ohio. New residents are required to register their motor vehicles with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and obtain an Indiana driver's license within 60 days of becoming an Indiana residence, unless the person doesn't claim Indiana as their place of resident. According to Ogden, Smith moved here several years ago from a job at another newspaper in Ohio.

When I got out of my car to retrieve something out of my trunk, I noted something peculiar about Smith's car. It had Ohio license plates. The frame surrounding the plate said "BMV CLEVELAND" at the top and "DAVIS AUTOMOTIVE GROUP" at the bottom. Of course, Smith is forever writing about how wonderful mass transit has worked out for Cleveland.

Shortly after the meeting, I went back to the parking lot to take a picture of the plate . . .

Why would someone continue to put Ohio plates after moving to Indiana years ago?  Because unlike Ohio license plates, Indiana plates come with a hefty auto excise tax attached to them.  The revenue from excise taxes is not dedicated and is distributed to local governments pursuant to the same formula used for property taxes.  In other words, excise tax money goes to schools, libraries, parks, public safety and to fund the very bus service that Erika Smith is pushing Indy residents to dramatically expand.

This reminds me of how ex-radio talk show host Abdul Hakim-Shabazz arrogantly thumbed his nose at Indiana's motor vehicle registration laws by driving a car with an Illinois-issued vanity plate emblazoned with "ABDUL" on it many years after he moved to Indianapolis to begin work as a full-time radio talk show host at WXNT and even after getting married to an Indianapolis woman. When called out on it, Shabazz defended having an Illinois vehicle registration, claiming that he was still an Illinois resident where he was registered to vote and admitted to practice law. That never stopped him, however, from weighing in on taxing and spending policies for Hoosier resident. Fellow blogger Ruth Holladay gets the award for the best take on this one: "The hypocrisy of this mass-transit maneuvering has more roundabouts than Carmel. I hope Erika will write yet another transportation column, explaining her position for not rendering unto Indiana what the state is due."

On a brighter note, a Senate Tax & Policy Committee voted unanimously today to amend the mass transit legislation to commit the issue to a summer study committee before voting it out of committee. Proponents haven't given up hope on passing a bill to their liking yet this year according to the IBJ. "It's always good to have a vehicle to work with in conference committee," Gifford said. "This happens a lot."

 

UPDATE: Smith posted this comment on Paul's blog indicating that the car belongs to her father, who lives in Ohio, although she believes both of their names are on the title.

Hi guys.

Just to be clear, I own two cars. One is my primary vehicle, which is a not-so-snow-friendly sports car registered here in Indiana that I drive most of the year. The car with that Ohio plate is owned by my father, although I believe my name is also on the title. I drive it only a couple months out of the year (the rest of the year, it sits in Ohio) and that is why it is registered with Ohio plates.

I do, however, have an Indiana driver's license (and plenty of parking tickets to prove it) so I am indeed paying taxes here year-round.

Thanks for blurring the plate number, though.

--Erika D. Smith