Council Votes To Raise Income Taxes $30 Million A Year

It's the biggest tax and spend council in the state of Indiana, and tonight's vote by the Indianapolis City County Council to hike the local public safety income tax rate 0.15% to 0.50%, a nearly 10% increase in the local rate, didn't disabuse us of that notion. Thirteen fiscally irresponsible Republicans and six Democrats joined hands on a 19-11 vote to shove it up the asses of hard-working taxpayers again so they could have more money in the pot to hand out to their campaign contributors, their number one spending priority. The only real Republican on the council, Christine Scales, voted against the tax increase. If the Republicans on the council had gotten their way, they would have also raised your taxes another $9 million a year by eliminating the homestead property tax credit. The other Republicans who voted to hike your taxes, included many of the same hypocrites who ran against Democratic councilors in 2007 who voted to raise income taxes 65% to fund public safety.

The claim that this $30 million in additional income taxes will be used to hire more police officers is a total lie. It is as much of a bait-and-switch as the 2007 public safety tax increase proved to be, which resulted in fewer, not more police officers than we had before that tax increase was enacted. The fact is that all of this tax increase will be consumed by promised pay raises for current public safety officers and the enormous additional costs that will be incurred when the Ballard administration rams through next year its plan to rely on a private developer to build a more than half billion dollar criminal justice center.

The administration and irresponsible council members' addiction to TIF slush fund spending is now consuming at least $120 million a year in property taxes paid by local property owners rather than funding basic city services The Mayor and the majority of the council prefers diverting property tax dollars to the slush funds so they can dole out your tax dollars to wealthy campaign contributors who kick back money to their campaign committees and who provide jobs to their family members and friends. Nothing is more important to these people than passing out subsidies to wealthy contributors for their private real estate development projects. They could care less about public safety when push comes to shove.

Furthermore, all of this talk about more police officers meaning less crime is total bunk. If more police officers meant less crime, then Detroit should be one of the safest cities in America. Detroit has nearly a thousand more police officers than Indianapolis with a much worse crime problem. Raising taxes on Marion County residents will only provide an additional incentive to higher-income earning taxpayers to flee to the suburbs where schools are much better, taxes are lower and crime isn't a serious concern. If you want to pay the highest income tax rate in the state of Indiana, then by all means move to Indianapolis. If you want to keep more of the income you earn, then choose anywhere but Indianapolis to live because this city is on the fast track to becoming South Detroit with the tax and spend policies advanced by Democrats and Republicans alike. Our politicians are as bribed up as much as Detroit politicians to boot.

VOTING TO RAISE YOU INCOME TAXES 10%

MARY MORIARTY-ADAMS (D)
ZACH ADAMSON (D)
JOHN BARTH (D)
VIRGINIA CAIN (R)
JOSE EVANS (R)
AARON FREEMAN (R)
WILL GOODEN (R)
JASON HOLLIDAY (R)
BEN HUNTER (R)
MAGGIE LEWIS (D)
ROBERT LUTZ (R)
BRIAN MAHERN (D)
MICHAEL MCQUILLEN (R)
JEFF MILLER (R)
JANICE MCHENRY (R)
MARILYN PFISTERER (R)
JACK SANDLIN (R)
JEFFERSON SHREVE (R)
STEVE TALLEY (D)

VOTING AGAINST

MONROE GRAY (D)
PAMELA HICKMAN (D)
LAKEISHA JACKSON (D)
MAGGIE LEWIS (D)
ANGELA MANSFIELD (D)
FRANK MASCARI (D)
WILLIAM OLIVER (D)
VOP OSILI (D)
LEROY ROBINSON (D)
CHRISTINE SCALES (R)
JOE SIMPSON (D)