Skillman Speaks to Speedway Chamber of Commerce

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Lt Gov Skillman and Mark White
Photo by Linda Karn

(posted Jan 24)

Avon Assistant Town Manager Mark White and Avon Council President Mike Rogers saw Lt. Governor Becky Skillman's visit to the Greater Speedway Chamber of Commerce as a golden opportunity to gain her attention to talk property taxes.

White said it is difficult to compete with 75 others for policy makers' attention at the state house during a legislative session so he knew he would have a better opportunity to talk to Skillman directly by attending the January 23 luncheon.

The number one concern among local leaders is the pending fate of the governor's plan laid out in HB 1001 that caps residential property taxes at one percent and shifts the taxing mechanism to sales tax. The state will also pick up the funding burden of school transportation and welfare from the local level. Skillman said 102 amendments have been introduced as of January 22 to change the bill. She said governor's plan does not impose an increase in the state income tax.

White's concern about relying on sales tax is its instability. It would make it difficult to project the town's budget 18 months out without knowing the economy's growth rate. White said the community is demanding certain things and without knowing the revenue streams, it would become difficult to deliver the services.

Rogers said local governments would instantly feel the brunt of a drop in consumption taxes when the economy slides. Rogers' future challenge is whether to add three more officers to the 20 member police department because of the proposed legislation. Rogers foresees this type of legislation forcing government layoffs if a recession hit.

Skillman acknowledged that a plan does not exist to determine how the sales revenue would be distributed fairly to local governments, but she did imply that the department of local government finance could oversee the distributions.

Skillman's speech discussed the growing industry of motorsports. She said about 1,400 companies are involved in the industry across the state. She said the industry has grown by 35 percent in the last five years with about $14 billion involved in private capital investing.

She complimented the town for its efforts to revitalize the town and to help grow the motorsports industry.

"Speedway has a long proud history of putting its best foot forward." She said the road improvements would benefit the region and the state. Skillman had access to the plans when Speedway Redevelopment Commissioner Scott Harris presented the booklet "Transforming a Road Opening, Windows of Opportunity. The facts about Georgetown Road." The slick covered booklet includes the importance of closing Georgetown Road to be replaced by a 43 acre linear park.
The SRC is also advocating closing Grande Avenue at the request of Allison Transmission. Harris explained why the SRC assumed the responsibility to initiate the closings. "These two road issues are a part of our Master Plan. We are partnering with Allison to work through the issues of the vacation of Grande, and as we are proposing that Georgetown Road be turned into a linear park will lead that effort with the assistance of the IMS for its closure."

Skillman touted the state's unemployment rate of 4.6 percent and said Indiana is one of only  two states in the nation with a decreasing an unemployment rate. She said Indiana has to continue to diversify its job base by expanding high tech jobs. She indicated the state's economy learned the difficult way when Indiana's biggest source of employment was manufacturing jobs.

She discussed the state's leadership to encourage the bio-fuel industry which has gone from zero to 17 plants. As Lt. Governnor, Skillman is also in charge of the agricultural industry. She plans to go to Mexico to promote the Hoosier Ag industry of lumber, corn, grain, hardwoods and soybeans. The state ranks fourth in soybean production and fifth in corn production. She wanted the Mexicans to know that Indiana has an abundance of quality and quantity of products.