Members of the Indianapolis City-County Council may be taking up the issue of raising their pay, again. The Council’s Salary Recommendation Panel has two scheduled meetings this month. One on July 9 at 4:30 p.m. and July 16 at 4 p.m., which by the way is 90 minutes before the Council has a hearing on the Mayor’s 65-percent increase in the income tax to pay for public safety.

I’m not saying members of the Council don’t deserve a raise. Who wouldn’t want more money with the increases in income and property taxes on the way, but this is definitely the WRONG time to be looking at even raising the issue of more money for elected officials.

With Marion County voters facing, on average, 34-percent increases in their tax bills, only a damn fool would ask the taxpayers for more money. And I am really question the intellect of the leadership that let this go forward.

If Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s call for a special session got a cool reception from Governor Mitch Daniels, it got a worse reception from House Speaker Pat Bauer. Sources say Bauer was furious when the Mayor called for a special session and referred to the Mayor as an “f***ing idiot.” Bauer also thinks the legislature went beyond the call of duty by spending all of its one-time gaming revenue on property tax relief.

I always thought there was some tension between the Mayor and the Speaker when Peterson could not get a meeting with Bauer to get his Indy Works plan passed in the closing hours of session. Now I know there is trouble in paradise.

I’m packing up to take off for the rest of the week. I have a family reunion and a funeral to attend. I honestly think I’ll have more fun at the funeral. But before I go, there are a couple of things I wanted to pass along about the increase in your tax bills.

First, part of the increases may be the result of the increase in the homestead exemption. Currently it’s about $45,000. If you have a home worth $90,000 that homestead is worth a lot more to you than if your home is assessed at $150,000. The government has to make up the cash somewhere, so the more expensive homes are picking up some of the extra slack.

Here’s some more food for thought to process. If you have a home equity loan based on your home’s previous assessment, do you now have a lot more equity sitting there because of the new assessed value? Or better yet, does the bank think your home is worth more? Or what if you have a loan approved for a certain amount, will the new assessment impact that? You see where this is going.

It would be nice if we could really address this issue by acknowledging that government spends too much money and as long as we demand more from government, it will be more than happy to take more from us.

Happy 4th of July.

I’ve gotten a number of e-mails today fropm people telling me they received junk mail with their tax bills. I was told they got ads for DISCOVER and GEICO. A lot of people were really annoyed with the mail on top of the large increases in their bills.

Look on the bright side though, you may pay an arm and leg in property taxes, but at least you’ll be able to save 25 percent on your car insurance by switching to GEICO.

Extra Note

Some folks are going to try to blame Governor Mitch Daniels for the increase in their tax bills and the shift from inventory taxes which is partially responsible for the increase in property taxes. Someone needs to revisit history. The inventory tax was eliminated BEFORE Mitch came into office. So if there is any blame to go around, it should go to previous administrations.

If you’re a Marion County resident and are fretting your tax bill, you may want to move downtown. The Conrad Hotel is advertising condominums and not only do you get a 3,896 square foot residence with 10′ ceilings, 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, including two private balconies with panoramic views, but you also get a 10-year property tax abatement.

That’s right, you can live in the lap of luxury, property tax free.

Check it out folks.

As the tax bills have come in and local lawmakers debate raising your taxes, I’ve been asked how local citizens can get a hold of their elected officials and voice their opinions. Here are some numbers you can call. All in the 317 area code.

Patrice Abdullah – 262-8953 or 965-5133
Paul Bateman – 547-3139 or 327-4242
Phil Borst – 787-5323
Rozelle Boyd – 327-4242
Vernon Brown – 501-6880 or 327-8645
Virginia Cain – 823-2640
Bob Cockrum – 856 – 5549
Lonell Conley – 547- 6652 or 545-1318
Susie Day – 787-2417
Sherron Franklin – 327-4242
Ron Gibson – 562-1556
Monroe Gray – 297-1155 or 327-6773
Scott Keller – 637-1829 or 443-6399
Lance Langford – 356-7249
Dane Mahern – 506-2707
Angela Mansfield – 872-3306 or 413-6868
Lynn McWhorter – 387-9078
Mary Moriarty Adams – 359-6940 or 690-6606
Jackie Nytes – 370-6184
Bill Oliver – 546-7467
Marilyn Pfisterer – 244-7156
Lincoln Plowman – 557-7594
Cherish Pryor – 327-4242
Ike Randolph – 216-9555
Bob Lutz – 241-4020
Joanne Sanders – 283-6040
Scott Schneider – 845-1815 or 849-4466
Mike Speedy – 786-6689
Ryan Vaughn – 327-4242

By my rough guestimate, if there was a vote to raise your taxes today it would pass 16 to 13. Voting “yes” would be Abdullah, Bateman, Boyd, Brown, Cain, Gibson, Gray, Keller, Langford, Mahern, Mansfield, Moriarty-Adams, Nytes, Oliver, Pryor and Sanders.

Voting “no” would be Cain, Cockrum, Day, Franklin, McWhorter, Pfisterer, Plowman, Randolph, Lutz , Schneider, Speedy and Vaughn.

It is important you contact your elected officials and let your voices be heard about the state of financial affairs in Marion County and whether you prefer less spending, more taxes or some combination of both.

And for the record, this information was all pulled off the Council’s own webpage. I did not put up any more personal information (although I have it in a big file) about these elected officials than what is already available to the public.

Let your fingers do the walking, it’s a snap.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision this week limiting race as a factor in school integration plans. The sky-is-falling, old school civil rights crowd who still thinks this is 1957 and not 2007, is yelling about how the clock is being turned back on civil rights and the usual blather. First of all, the court did not say you could not use race, but merely put some limits on it. As one Justice said, “you can’t beat discrimination with discrimination.” I personally find it offensive for Black people to say the only way Black children can learn is if they go to school with white children.

I am all for diversity in the classroom, but the way the “old school” crowd wants diversity is to just put a black face next to a white face and call it a day. I argue true diversity comes from differing opinions. And you get different opinions from different people from different backgrounds, and it’s not just race.

One of my best friends is a white guy from Kansas. We attended college together and were amazed at how much we had in common. But had the “old school” crowd put us together in the classroom they would have been happy with “diversity” because was white with long hair and I was black with a jerri curl. Never mind the fact we had similar views on the major issues of the day.

On the reverse, my cousin who grew up a few blocks from me in Chicago is the biggest tree-hugging, Birkenstock- wearing, vegetarian-eating, Black Panther-partying person you will ever find and we have nothing in common. But there is more diversity between the two of us than Martin Luther King, Jr. and David Duke.

The point of this is simple, we should have diverse, integrated schools. But true diversity comes from thought, opinion and perspective, not just race. It is a fallacy to think that you would get diversity simply because you put different people of different races in the same classroom. That kind of diversity only has face value and it’s worthless.

Everybody knows I’m a big musical fan. So combine that with a wicked sense of humor and a fascination with government and politics and I decided there should be a theme song for the taxpayers’ revolt that’s coming as the property tax bills hit the mailboxes starting today. The song of the revolution will be “Do You Hear the People Sing” from Les Miserables. Here are the lyrics so you can sing along on your way to burn down the City-County building.

ENJOLRAS
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

COMBEFERRE
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Courfeyrac:
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

ALL
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

FEUILLY
Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

ALL
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Here’s a You Tube clip to help you along with the melody! Happy Revolting.

I got some more tax information from the Governor’s budget office today. Marion County lost almost $80 million when the inventory tax was phased out. And since the City-County Council failed to pass the CEDIT (County Economic Development Income Tax) to offset some of the loss, you’re staring down a tax increase of almost Biblical proportions. Had they raised the CEDIT the maximum .25 percent, you’d be paying $37 million less in property taxes. I was told the Council pulled the CEDIT off the table last year because it would have been too regressive for the taxpayers. Famous last words.

I just got some shocking information from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. Marion County got nearly $330 million in property tax subsidies in 2006 from the state of Indiana. That means this government would have cost you an extra $329 million had it not been for the state picking up part of the tab.

All this does is hide the real cost of government. The state should not be paying that $329 million, you should be paying for it directly! That way you can see the real costs of how much this government costs and decide if it’s something you really want to pay for instead of just complain about.