Attorney John Price is filing suit this morning challenging the way property taxes are done in Indiana. While a lot of it involves legal issues that would take too long to explain, there are three main issue Price says he wants a quick ruling on three main issues.

First, he says he wants taxpayers who overpaid their property taxes prior to the Governor’s reassessment order to get their refunds now. Price says the Department of Local Government and Finance wants to take up to six months to issue refunds. Price says you wouldn’t have to wait for a refund if you took an item back to the store so you shouldn’t have to wait for your tax refund.

Second, Price says the public safety tax recently passed by the Indianapolis City-County Council was illegal because former Councilmember Patrice Abduallah should have never voted on the measure. Price says Abduallah vacated his seat in January when he filed for re-election and should have never been in his seat, therefore the vote was illegal.

Third, he says the Governor did not have the authority to extend tax deadlines without legislative approval and those should be thrown out as well.

Price says there are a number of other issues regarding assessments and abatements that are in the lawsuit as well. He is not challenging the constitutionality of property taxes, he is arguing that applied under the current system, they are unconstitutional.

Stay tuned for more later.

My sources in city hall are abuzz this evening. Indianapolis Fire Deputy Fire Chief Doug Reno is said to get ready to turn in his resignation over recent actions by Deputy Chief and Council Democrat Vern Brown. Brown who is an assistant chief allegedly vetoed a list of candidates for promotion for director of training because there were no African-Americans on the list. I had no idea Brown had that much control in the Indianapolis Fire Department. I thought Jim Greeson was in charge. The power must be nice. It is also another reason why public officials should not be allowed to serve on the Councils that govern them. Who knows what else is out there? I intend to find out.

I’m hearing some strange things are going on out in the townships these days. My sources tell me Wayne Township Trustee David Baird wants an $8,000 raise. I don’t what planet he’s on but apparently it’s not one where people pay taxes otherwise he wouldn’t try to pull a stunt like that. It’s bad enough his brother is on the payroll as his Chief of Staff.

In Perry Township someone is handing out parking permits to allow their out of state friends (from New Jersey) to park downtown (near the RCA Dome) without any problems. For the life of me I just can’t understand why the Perry Township constable’s office would give out a parking permit to an out of state vehicle to park in downtown Indianapolis this week? (Insert sarcasm here) By the way, I have pictures if you want to see them.

And returning to Speedway, the town council fired the manager John McCurtain with three months left to go on his contract. According to the Speedway Navigator, a new publication in town, McCurtain was let go for “budgetary reasons.” I don’t see how you can fire someone under contract and not pay him if the issue isn’t performance related. But this is also the same town that passed an ordinance so the government can enter your apartment without your permission. There’s something funny going here, folks.

The Indianapolis City-County Council’s Finance Committee is meeting on the budget tonight to see how city departments are doing in heeding the Mayor’s call for cuts. I’ve been watching the budget hearings on Channel 16 and listening to all the different department heads, so if the Committee doesn’t mind I’d like to offer a little assistance.

The Mayor’s Office is making progress in cutting $50 million in the property tax levy, however most of that was going to happen anyway. The $35 million child welfare levy was going to be paid off this year and another $7-$8 million will be reduced over a settlement with United Airlines. So at the very least approximately $43 million in property taxes will be reduced because it was going to happen anyway. But since “Hizzoner” would get the blame if things went south, so in this case he gets the credit.

Things aren’t as great over at the Library. When asked to cut about $180,000 out the Library budget, Library board President Louis Mahern made excuse (debt service) after excuse (self-insurance fund) after excuse (cutting library hours). I think it’s odd with millions in spending, the Library can’t find $180,000 to cut. But these are also the same people who said the Library was a “bargain” for the taxpayers.

Another thing the Committee may want to check is double billing. A number of city agencies have “cut” their budgets by eliminating inter-agency purchases and marking those down as cuts. In other words, if an agency needs a car they get one from public works. Public works tells them the use of the car isn’t coming out of its budget so it sends the agency a bill for the use of the car. In the new budget scenario, the agency decides it doesn’t need the car, so it doesn’t get billed and it counts that as a budget cut. And since public works isn’t leasing the car, it also counts that as a budget cut. So both agencies are taking credit for the budget cut, even though only one is really reducing spending. If the committee really wants to do its job, it will get a grasp on the double billing and how much in budget “savings” is taking place due to this practice and go for some truth in accounting.

The Committee should also take a look at the city’s website and see how many agencies are still advertising for personnel in non-public safety areas. I thought there was a hiring freeze going on. Those are just a few suggestions for the Finance Committee tonight. If they have any other questions, I’ll be more than happy to offer up more recommendations on how to save the taxpayers money.

“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”, well maybe not something so dramatic but it is campaign season. I get excited over political campaigns the way Colts fans get excited over football. What makes this election so important is these are municipal elections and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Local government has more impact over your daily life than anything at the state and national level. They control your schools, public safety, zoning, roads and infrastructure. And with the property tax crisis on top of underlying crime and quality of life issues, the stakes could not be more important.

If you make me a promise to pay attention to the issues this election season, I promise to not only bring you the candidates, but get to the real issues and offer you a forum to engage in rigorous debate.

Deal? Deal.

I now know how a lot of Marion County residents feel. I am sick and tired. I wish it was because of the government, but I got hit with some kind of bug. I’m spending the day in bed with good books and orange juice. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, see you next week.

Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer when it comes to Iraq, Dick Lugar needs to close his mouth and listen before he speaks.

Buyer said Lugar, and fellow Senators John Warner (R-Virginia) and Carl Levin (D-Michigan), are jumping the gun with their criticisms of the war in Iraq.

The three Senators have argued that the current Iraq strategy was not working and have called for a political solution to solve the nation’s problems. They also say the Iraqi government needs to take stronger steps to stabilize the country.

In an interview prior to his speech at last weekend’s Midwest Republican Leadership Conference, Buyer said the Senators to need wait for an anticipated report from General David Petraeus to Congress before commenting.

“The senators need to be patient and close their mouths and listen before they speak out about Iraq,” he said. “They need to stop trying to be generals on the ground. Your job is to listen to the generals.”

Lugar is in the former Soviet Union with former U.S. Senator San Nunn marking the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program that was designed to reduce and secure the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

I’m just getting in the door this evening. I had something really surreal happen tonight that hasn’t happened to me since 1987, I got called the n-word to my face by a white person. I’m shocked too. I get called the n-word by black people on a daily basis and a number of them are elected officials. But what’s so bizzare is that it wasn’t being called the n-word that was so weird, but how it happened.

I had just gotten back downtown from teaching and decided to hit the Columbia Club for a couple quick cocktails and then go back to the house and call it a day. While there I ran into a couple good buddies and we decided to go over to Nicki Blaine’s for drinks. One was black (and an investment banker) and the other white (who was a lobbyist). While walking along the circle we crossed paths with ne’er-do-well who looked like a cross between the Fonz and Gene Simmons when he was really strung out on blow.

After the man got about 20 feet way from us he yelled “look at those n——!” My friends and I all looked at him and then each other and in a moment out of Blazing Saddles, my black friend and I looked at each other said ,”was he talking to you?”

The ne’er-do-well shouted something else and walked around the corner onto Market Street. The three of us went to Nicki Blaine’s with very puzzled looks on our faces, made a few jokes and then had our cocktails. My investment banker friend and I chuckled that we pay more in Social Security than the ne’er-do-well makes in a year, so I guess in the end we did get even, But, I have to say it was a very surreal moment. Even more surreal than the time I was mistaken for a male prostitute near the new library.

I’m not even sure why I decided to write this down. I guess just to prove that it did happen. Welcome to my world.

At last Sunday’s tax forum at Light of the World Church we interviewed Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and his Republican challenger Greg Ballard. Both candidates were asked about taxes, crime and economic development. You can hear both their responses here.

After talking to both men, I’ve concluded that their main opponents aren’t each other, but themselves. For the incumbent, he has to prove that after eight years of his leadership, the city is on the right track and voters should entrust him with another four. This is going to be pretty difficult with a climate that is filled with rising crime, taxes, home foreclosures and a decreasing quality of life. However, the Mayor’s best friend is voter apathy. If not enough people care and stay home, he cruises to victory.

For Ballard, it is not enough to say Peterson is a bad mayor, but why he would be a good mayor. He needs to get a lot more aggressive and start appealing to the masses. Speaking to small groups off the radar screen of the mainstream press is one thing, but now he needs to get ready for prime time. However, for Ballard, his best friend is voter anger. If he can tap into that anger by getting more aggressive with the mass appeal and asking if voters are better off than they were four years ago, he can give the incumbent a run for his money.

If this were any other election, and if either man had another opponent, this race would be over. However in this climate with taxes, crime and other news it will be the events that drive this campaign and not the candidates. And for each candidate to truly take advantage of those events, they will have to overcome their biggest hurdles, themselves.

Marion County Democrats chose Andre Carson, the grandson of 7th District Congresswoman Julia Carson, to fill the vacancy left behind by Patrice Abduallah on the City-County Council. Abduallah resigned after it was discovered he did not live in his district.

Carson received 14 out of 20 precinct committeemen votes for the spot. I have met Carson and he is personable and engaging. It is my understanding that Democrats will try to put him on the ballot. I don’t know if they legally can since all the deadlines have passed.

Stay tuned.