Democrats call on CIB to contribute $8M to budget - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Opponents of Mayor Greg Ballard's budget proposal say the plan hurts taxpayers and think the city's sports venues should pay more money.

Democrats say Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse bring in a lot of money, but they also use a lot of city services. Primarily, they rely heavily on police and fire protection, services they don't pay for directly.

Democrats say it's time the group that runs those venues chip in and are calling on the Capital Improvement Board to contribute $8 million a year to the city budget. They say that money would make up for a homestead tax credit Ballard wants to get rid of. That credit averages $24 a year for those who own a home.

The Democrats also want to establish a "tax fairness task force" to look at ways of generating even more money for the city down the road.

"One possible area of study includes services provided by and consumed by large property tax entities, like universities, hospitals and medical facilities, many of which benefit our region, our state and the country. Currently in the county, there are large institutions with billions of dollars of property and revenue that pay no property taxes here in Indianapolis. The task force would work cooperatively to explore other ways these entities might voluntarily contribute to cover the cost of essential public services, like public safety, that they use," said Councilor Brian Maher, a Democrat.

The mayor's spokesman, Marc Lotter, says they haven't had time to look at the Democrat's proposals, but he says having the CIB chip in seems short-sighted, something they would have to do every year.

"Today's latest news conference from Councillor Mahern underscores his lack of knowledge concerning municipal finance. Continuing the homestead subsidy would cost $13 million, not $8 million. It also would create a $13 million funding cliff that would put Indianapolis into a deeper fiscal hole in 2014 and beyond," Lotter said in a release Tuesday.

"This knee-jerk proposal continues the same line of thinking that nearly bankrupted the Capital Improvement Board and produced fiscally irresponsible city budgets a few years ago. Mayor Ballard looks forward to having a serious discussion about the long-term fiscal needs of our city with thoughtful leaders in the Council, including President Maggie Lewis, who just yesterday as a member of the CIB voted to approve its budget," the release continued.

Lotter also said in the release that "ending the homestead subsidy results in $13 million in County Option Income Tax (COIT) savings, but it also reduces property tax revenue to the City-County due to the distribution of property tax funds among the various taxing districts. This results in total savings to the overall City-County budget of $8 million."

Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5:00 Tuesday to learn more about the concern about the budget's impact on public safety.