You won’t believe this, but the House Ways and Means Committee voted to amend the Governor’s tax proposal so that your residential property tax bill would be capped at 1-percent of your income.  That’s right, income.  I am not making this up.  One percent.  Not one percent of your assessed value.  You figure it out.  Let the games begin.

There are some rumblings amongst the rank and file of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department over who will be Chief once IMPD is turned over to Mayor Greg Ballard at the end of the month.

I’m told many of the officers hope current Chief Mike Spears and many of the top brass will be replaced after the transition and that Ballard and Public Safety Director Scott Newman will appoint a new leadership team.

My sources say the cops supported Ballard because he promised change in the way the police department would be run and to keep Spears and his staff in place would run counter to those promises.

Officers worry that some in the administration believe Spears never got the opportunity to lead the department while under Frank Anderson so he deserves a chance to prove himself.  They says Spears’ leadership was part of the problem under the old system and they want him to go.

The friendly rivals over at Blue Indiana have some interesting posts today on the race for the 7th Congressional District.  After being on a conference call with the DCCC, B.I. reports the party says it will back Andre Carson through the May primary against all other challengers.

“When asked if the DCCC would be supporting Andre Carson in the May Primary after the Special Election, the DCCC said that they would indeed be staffing and funding the Carson campaign against the other contenders in the crowded Primary field. The Primary includes candidates such as State Reps. David Orentlicher and Carolene Mays, as well as Dr. Woody Myers and Frances Nelson among other rumored but not yet official candidates.

The fact that the DCCC will be monkeying around in such a contentious primary is a slap in the face to the voters in the Special Election March 11th. Should Carson lose the Special to GOP nominee State Rep. Jon Elrod on March 11th, his campaign essentially is getting a do-over in the May Primary. This is truly an astounding turn of events, as prior to today the DCCC had been non committal about supporting Carson in the May Primary.”

Your thoughts.

One of my favorite films is Monty Python’s The Holy Grail;  the “bring out your dead” scene in particular.  I bring that up because SB 280 (Marion County Fire Consolidation) is back from the grave.  The bill was added Tuesday on to HB 1105, a public employees pension bill.  The vote was 22-18 much to the chagrin of Senator Mike Young. Young was furious at the vote and was mad enough to chew uranium.  Young has never been a fan of consolidation and smaller government. 

So the fact that efficient government moved forward and Young suffered a setback is living proof that good government is good politics.  Now let’s hope the forces against change don’t hit the bill with a shovel.

Although the city is moving forward with it’s Super Bowl bid, I think the more interesting quest will be to line up public support.  At today’s news conference Bowl Committee Chairman Mark Miles made it a point to say that this is the “community’s bid” and the community should be a part of the quest to get the 2012 Super Bowl. They’ve created a community advisory committee to help drum up public support for the Super Bowl.

Miles and other officials also stressed the theme of return on investment, pointing out that economic figures show city and private investment dollars ($25 million from the private sector and about $1-$2 million from the city for public safety) will yield between $250-$300 million dollars in revenue for Indianapolis and the region.

It will be interesting to see what the public reaction is over the next few weeks.  I’ve always maintained the problem with the last Super Bowl bid was that it did not seem to have the support of the public behind it because many residents thought the city had more important things to do such as deal with a rising crime problem.

I’ll be watching closely.

Editor’s Note:  One of the most interesting moments of the discussion was when a reporter asked Miles if Indy could compete with Arizona and Houston which are both touting the fact they have held successful Super Bowls.  His response, “Sometimes it’s better to run for office the first time around than defend a record.”   Miles quickly added it was a general observation after some laughter from the crowd.

The Indiana State Senate Tax Policy Committee unanimously approved property tax reform legislation this morning. However, there was one measure in the bill that caught my attention.

Both Republicans and Democrats unanimously approved picking pre-1977 police and fire pensions. These pensions are the bane of the existence of local governments. In Indianapolis alone the pensions costs the city between $24-$30 million a year. They were also part of the reason for the 65-percent income tax increase that helped defeat former Mayor Bart Peterson.

Current Mayor Greg Ballard told lawmakers it would be helpful if the state picked up the pension tab. Ballard was practically written off during his testimony in the House Ways and Means Committee and also in some portions of the Indiana blogosphere, but apparently someone convinced the Senators that this was a good idea.

Some House Democrats warn however, that due to the economic slowdown the state may not be able to pick up the levy, however these are also some of the same people who spent about $350 million in tax relief when they passed out the Governor’s plan.

Speaking of Governors, Mitch Daniels told me Friday he was open to the state picking up the pre-1977 pension costs if it meant lower property taxes for Hoosiers and it was done in a responsible manner.

I also asked Ballard if the state picked up the pension costs would that mean an automatic reduction in the public safety tax.  The Mayor said he could not answer that question until he knew the full effect of the state’s property tax reform.

So while the Mayor may not get the assistance he wants, it looks like it didn’t hurt to ask.

As you’ve probably guessed, despite all the public posturing over property tax reform at the Statehouse, the real work is going on behind the scenes with all four caucuses at the table, but the main negotiations are between House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the shadow of the Governor looms over all. 

From what I’ve been able to gather everyone is talking and no one feels that they need to leave the negotiation table.  However, the real reform plan isn’t there yet, because all parties still have to determine what will be duked out in conference committee.   There’s agreement on what’s been labelled as the “no-brainer” issues, but there’s no road map on how to get to tax relief.

House Democrats, I’m told, don’t want constitutional caps on spending while Senate Republicans are adamant about caps on spending, even if they are phased in.

The best way to describe the negotiation atmosphere is like a bunch of guys taking a road trip, everyone knows where they want to go, but no one is quite sure how they’ll get there or where they will end up.

I just hope they’re smart enough to pull over and ask for directions if they get lost.

Indianapolis city officials plan to announce Tuesday that they will put in a formal bid for the 2012 Super Bowl.  Officials say they think the city has a good chance against Houston and Phoenix.  They also say it will be an economic windfall for Indianapolis.  The city lost the 2011 Super Bowl bid to Dallas last year.

I have always maintained a Super Bowl would be good for Indianapolis, but the administration in charge had to have its priorities straight.  I have no doubt the Ballard folks are committed to solving the city’s crime problem, the first step of which was to get operational control of the Metropolitan Police Department, the infrastructure, tackle education (an economic tool for those of you don’t make the connection) and get this city’s finances in order.

Money raised for the Super Bowl bid would come from a public-private partnership.  Full details will be made available tomorrow at an afternoon news conference.

I’m taking President’s Day off. Maybe I’ll go buy a mattress or something. In the meanwhile, here are a few facts about this day a friend sent me. Enjoy.

Presidents Day was established as a national holiday in 1885 to celebrate George Washington’s Birthday. In the 1980’s, tradition began to include Abraham Lincoln, who was also born in February, as part of the holiday. To this day, in some states, other presidents such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John Kennedy are also remembered. Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and several other states commemorate the holiday by different names. More recently, Presidents Day has come to celebrate Washington, Lincoln, and Andrew Shepard (just wanted to see if you’re still paying attention).

One other quick fact, Benjamin Harrison is the only president from Indiana. He was born in Ohio in 1833 but later moved to Indiana. He served in the US Senate before becoming president. He did not win the popular vote in his election, but did win the majority vote in the Electoral College (sound familiar). Electric lights were installed in the White House during his term; but, his wife never turned them on because she was frightened of the switches. Harrison, a Republican, served only one term and was the 23rd POTUS from 1889-1893.

My personal favorite Presidents have been Lincoln and Truman. I thought Nixon was the most tragic and Reagan and Roosevelt the most inspirational. I still can’t figure out what purpose Rutherford B. Hayes and Zachary Taylor served. But I do know Ulysses Grant would have been fun to party with.

Got a favorite Commander-in-Chief? Happy Presidents Day!

Lately my Saturday mornings have been spent teaching Business Law for the MBA program at the University of Indianapolis. One of my classes just finished so I had time to go over to the slating for the Marion County Democratic party. I didn’t go to see who the Democrats would slate as much as it was to get a feel for the party after suffering defeat in the 2007 local elections. I wanted to know how energized and motivated they would be and would that energy carryover to the 2008 elections.

Now granted, there are a lot of Democrats in this county who would like to see pack my bags and go back to the Land of Lincoln because I allegedly am partially to blame for their losses last year. I don’t know how that’s possible because all I do is share my ideas and provide people with a forum to express their opinions. What’s even more ironic about that is the same people who say I’m partially responsible for the Republicans victory are the same people who say I have no credibility and am irrelevant to the debate. I wish they would make up their minds.

Regardless, I spoke to a number of local Democrats and here’s a summary of what they had to share…

State Representative Bill Crawford — Negotiations for property relief are going well and moving toward solutions. he says Democrats want to maximize relief for taxpayers while maintaining the state’s constitutional obligation to public education. He also says he’s skeptical of claims that many homeowners would lose their homes because of high property taxes, saying massive increases in local taxes are spotty at best across the state. He also says fire consolidation in Marion County is off the table for now two reasons, first Marion County already has the statutory authority to merge fire departments. Secondly, fire consolidation should be approached from a statewide perspective and not piecemeal it just for a single county. And Crawford also threw down the gauntlet saying if anyone wants to challenge him in the upcoming election, they are more than welcome to because he welcomes the debate.

County Assessor Greg Bowes – The County turned in its commercial and industrial reassessment numbers Friday evening to the Department of Local Government and Finance and are waiting for approval. Bowes is sticking with his office’s prediction that commercial and industrial assessments may go up 20-30 percent, but also that residential assessments may increase about six percent. Bowes says the increase in assessments means taxpayers could get somewhat of a break because everyone will be paying their fair share, however he also says taxpayers should not expect to pay lower than last year’s bills, per se; only that the increases seen in the 2007 bills will not be as high. Bowes hopes to release more information later this week.

Andre Carson (7th Congressional District Candidate) — He said support for his candidacy is coming in from across the city and across racial and religious lines. He said he and his opponents are scheduled the meet three times between and the election to debate the issues. He also called the videotaping of Jon Elrod signing campaign thank you letters at the Statehouse “junior high school” activity. It’s also worth mentioning, Carson got a lively round of applause when he spoke to the delegates, but I could also see quite a few people sitting on their hands, which means Carson may still have some work to do to shore up his Democratic support.

Mike O’Connor (Marion County Democratic Chairman) – The Ballard administration is finding out how hard it is to govern a city and it’s a lot different from campaigning. He says they backtracked on ethics pledges and promises to help eliminate taxes. He also says their new role as the “loyal opposition” is to hold the Ballard administration accountable to its campaign pledges.

Jim Schellinger (Candidate for Governor) -Mitch Daniels oversaw the largest property tax increase in the history of Indiana. He says he would work with all lawmakers to come up with a plan to protect all Hoosier homeowners.

Jill Long Thompson (Candidate for Governor) – Voters are waiting for change and she will provide it. She also says personal income in Indiana has dropped under Mitch Daniels. She also says the tax system in Indiana needs to be restructured so it works for Hoosier families and businesses.

I’ll be playing the complete interviews on Tuesday morning as well as comments from Governor Mitch Daniels about property taxes as we come down to the final stretch of the legislature. Speaking of Daniels, the biggest applause at the slating came whenever his name was mentioned in conjunction with throwing him out of office in 2008.

Overall, I was treated well by most of the Democrats I interacted with. They are usually the professionals who get it versus the more activist crowd who couldn’t see their political noses to spite their faces. And instead of treating me like a pariah when I show up at their events they’d probably be better of thinking of me as “Q” from Star Trek; The Next Generation. It would make everyone’s life a whole lot easier, especially theirs.