The fallout continues from Monday night’s controversial City-County Council meeting where lawmakers approved a 65-percent increase in the county option income tax to pay for public safety. Former City-comptroller Jim Steele, who was hired by the city to help pass the tax increase and help solve its financial problems, has turned in his resignation. Steele […]

Anyone hoping for a special session from the Indiana General Assembly is probably better off hoping Lindsay Lohan will get her act together. The Senate Republicans don’t want one. House Speaker Pat Bauer doesn’t want one. And Governor Mitch Daniels would probably rather deal with the issue administratively for now. If you put it all […]

The increase in the minimum wage goes into effect today. It goes from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. The purpose of raising the minimum wage is to put more cash in the pockets of low-paid, and usually low-skilled, workers. Someone should have told that to the City-County Council last night as they passed the public […]

There was almost a fight at tonight’s City-County Council meeting over the public safety tax. It wasn’t the one between Republican Ike Randolph and Democrat Vern Brown. Brown called Randolph a coward on the Council floor for not voting on the measure. Randolph asked Brown to step outside the chamber and talk like men, which […]

My sources are telling me the votes are there at tonight’s City-County Council meeting to increase the County Option Income Tax to pay for public safety. Republicans Scott Keller and Lance Langsford will vote “yes.” Assuming no Democrats vote “no”, the measure will pass 17-12. More details later.

You’ve already heard me talk about potential conflicts of interest with tonight’s Council vote on the public safety tax, however there are much bigger issues to consider beyond the tax. Having government employees serve on the same board that oversee them can turn into a land mine of problems. What if a government employee wants […]

On Monday the full City-County Council will vote on whether to raise the County Option Income Tax to help pay for public safety; raises for police and firefighters, 100 new police officers, pensions, crime prevention programs etc. While I still have my doubts about whether the votes are there to pass it, I do believe […]

I know that sounds like a harsh title, but it’s appropriate for what I’m about to write. In order to get a feel for the second Saturday night of Indiana Black Expo I worked the door at my favorite downtown establishment, Nicki Blaine’s, just south of Monument Circle. I originally planned to work from 9 […]

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson today called for a 10-percent across the board cut in non-public safety areas of city-county government, a hiring freeze and creating an efficiency committee to deal with the city’s fiscal problems. The Mayor made the announcement this afternoon. He said a 10-percent cut will yield $13 million in savings. The cuts […]

Mayor Bart Peterson is going to tell us media folks later this morning what he proposes to “cut” from the budget should his public safety tax increase plan not go through. I’m told his administration won’t layoff any police or firefighters, but they could go after new purchases and equipment. I’ll have more for you […]