The Capital Improvement Board has formally addressed a controversial deal that would have given the proceeds of taxpayer-purchased property to a local not-for-profit organization. That decision resulted in a lawsuit. The Board voted unanimously this afternoon to pay the Indiana Sports Corporation $200,000 to auction off public property from the RCA Dome. Under the agreement […]

Hilary Clinton is in Indiana today.  She’s making stops in Evansville, Terre Haute and Anderson.  Her visit here today and Barack Obama’s on Saturday got me to thinking, which would America elect first a Black President or a woman President? I think a Black would get elected first. History is my best indicator for making […]

Governor Mitch Daniels today signed a bill that he says will give Hoosiers permanent property tax relief.  Daniels, along with House Speaker Pat Bauer, Senate Pro Temp David Long and Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, signed House Bill 1001 which would cut property taxes by an average of 30 percent across the state. Property taxes were […]

The controversy over the auction of RCA Dome items just got a “little” bigger.  Paul Ogden, the attorney who filed the suit to keep the proceeds from the auction in the hands of the taxpayers, told me this morning there is an issue of whether the Capital Improvement Board even took a formal vote to dispose of […]

The Governor and legislative leaders will hold a joint news conference this afternoon over property tax reform.  The Governor will sign HB 1001.    The bill does a lot but it does not directly affect the assessment process, except to the extent it eliminates township assessors in townships with less than 15,000 parcels and calls for […]

I made a call to the Indiana Department of Revenue this morning on sales tax figures for the state.  I did this because the sales tax will be increased by one penny from 6 to 7 cents in order to provide Hoosiers with property tax relief.  Here’s a rundown of 2007 filings… Total Sales Tax […]

If you read yesterday’s post, I provided you with some details about why the Indiana State Teacher’s Union is not a big fan of the property tax reform plan that came out of the Legislature.    Well, today I have another one for you. ISTA was critical of the State picking up the final 15 percent […]

I can’t believe there are people in this world who can’t grasp the concept of reform.  I have heard people complain that local governments will lose money.   I think what they mean to say is governments will get to keep less of YOUR money.  One group that doesn’t get it is the Indiana State Teacher’s […]

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced this weekend that he is picking former City-County Councilor Sherron Franklin to oversee the city’s efforts to reduce the number abandoned homes. Ballard made the announcement Saturday at the monthly meeting of the Marion County Neighborhood Associations. Franklin, a Democrat and police officer, will be assigned under IMPD’s Crime Reduction […]

Okay, okay, enough with the Journey references already! But I couldn’t help myself. Let’s face it, it’s not everyday you get your hands around the biggest property tax reform package in darn near 50 years. So while my last post was who gets the credit, with this post we do another survey, who wins and […]