Mayor Plans to Push State for Tax Reform

(posted Sept 18)

Property tax reform will be Mayor Bart Peterson's top issue to take to the Indiana General Assembly this session. Those were among several issues Peterson discussed with The Speedway Navigator during the exclusive September 17 interview.

Peterson expressed his disappointment with the legislators for not calling a special session now to deal with the property tax crisis. He believes the long term property reform will develop because the current system is beyond broken. Peterson labeled the current system as "dysfunctional" and said that legislators cannot afford to band-aid the system any longer. He describe it as one of the worst governmental crisis the state is going through, that was brought on when it shifted to the market value system for assessing property. To highlight the system is in need of reform, he said "The state has 6.2 million people and nobody has confidence in the system."

He said if he were a legislator he would be going to every neighborhood association and other events where he could have direct access to taxpayers' opinions of how they want to fund government. Would they want to lower property taxes by increasing sales and income taxes?

He was not convinced that abolishing property taxes would attract more economic development. He said he has not seen data to support that businesses would come because property taxes are gone. A higher sales tax could also be a disincentive to businesses.

As President of the National League of Cities, Peterson explained other cities have property tax issues to some degree but none of them have stemmed from the shift to a market value system. He said our state is in a unique situation that handled the conversion "quite badly."

He also explained that government has to do its share by cutting its size. He said consolidation has not rolled down to second on his list because cutting the size of government is part of his property tax reform. He contends that his push for legislation will complete the consolidation of government services. His plan will merge the township fire departments with IFD as well as eliminating township trustees and assessors. Washington and Warren township fire departments have already merged.

When told that Wayne Township Trustee Roger Bowser said the township might have to look at consolidation because of rising costs, the Mayor smiled noting that he is glad that "somebody gets it," meaning that consolidation will save taxpayers money.

During the next four years, the Mayor envisions Indianapolis with a lower high school drop out rate, lower crime rate, redeveloping neighborhoods, creating more economic development opportunities with Life Science jobs and a greener city.

He has pushed for a higher quality of education with the charter school system. He said it is a rigorous program to become a charter school. He said the city has approved of only 16 out of 100 applicants since its inception. He is the only mayor that has mandated transportation to help create an accessible opportunity for all students regardless of location or income. He felt that if he had not mandated transportation, it would appear the charter schools were discriminating against students of single parents or parents without cars from enrolling. Indianapolis and Ball State University are both offering charter schools. He welcomes Ball State's charter school into the area even if the schools are located relatively close. It is the charter school's responsibility to attract students through their innovative programs and creative methods of teaching. He contends that more choices and alternatives raise the bar to a higher quality of education whether it is within a traditional school or alternative school system. Peterson plans to be advocating for additional funding from the state to support charter schools. The charter schools currently do not receive state assistance with transportation and facilities. "They must learn to be efficient or raise more money on their own," he said.

Peterson has always had an interest in the youth's opinion. He created the Mayor's Youth Council to hear their concerns and issues. He admitted that he was surprised at the array of knowledge and interest the students have beyond the issues such as curfew and dress code that would directly affect them. He said they are well informed about the tax crisis and immigration. The Mayor's Youth Council is comprised of 25 students ranging from the age of 14 to 18.

As far as crime, the mayor thinks the administration is on the right track for lowering crime. Better education and redeveloping neighborhoods are part of the pieces to deter crime. Eagledale recently was awarded a Department of Justice Weed and Seed Grant as a crime fighting tool to rid the criminal elements from their neighborhood.

The Mayor has been pushing neighborhood redevelopment through the Greater Indy Neighborhood Initiative. In 2006, the program awarded grants to six neighborhoods to develop action plans to rejuvenate. Last December, the mayor had a town hall day in Crooked Creek. It was one of the neighborhoods awarded a $150,000 grant to revitalize Michigan Road.

Peterson contended that city's continued focus on attracting life science technologies will provide better economic opportunities for all levels of jobs, whether it is the entry level position or the job that requires a PhD. Part of economic development is having a greener city that explores and uses better energy conservation and better environmental sustainability. He said the city is looking into using green roofs for their office buildings.