Council Committee Passes Property Tax Increase That Will Cut Township School Collections By $4.1 Million

Without the support he received in the townships outside of Center Township, Mayor Greg Ballard would have lost his narrow electoral victories in the 2007 and 2011 municipal elections. Nonetheless, he continues to push for higher property taxes despite using that very issue to topple the incumbent mayor in 2007 and promising to keep taxes low. The Administration & Finance Committee advanced his proposal to extend the IMPD tax levy to areas outside the old city limits, a move that will both increase property taxes paid by residents and reduce property taxes collected by the township school districts by $4.1 million due to the impact the new tax levy will have on property owners who bump up against the property tax cap law. Two Democrats voted with the three Republican council members on the committee (Ben Hunter, Marilyn Pfisterer and Jack Sandlin), including Councilors Angela Mansfield and Mary Moriarty Adams. At the same time, Ballard's Capital Improvement Board is planning to spend 40% more next year on its budget, has a more than $70 million budget surplus and plans to give billionaire Herb Simon's Indiana Pacers another $21 million on top of the $43.5 million it has already given this greedy and selfish man. It's just another example of how your elected officials in this city are only interested in taking care of the people stuffing campaign money and free tickets to sporting events in their pockets.