MORNING MUSINGS
There are a lot of little things to report from across town today so here they are:
State Senator Luke Kenley and his Property Tax Commission will unveil their plan for tax reform with a goal of cutting residential property taxes by 50-percent. Although Kenley is being tight-lipped about what they will unveil, he does tell me that to provide the tax relief, look for some tinkering with the sales tax and the local option income tax. My money is on an increase in both to provide the necessary relief and I would not be surprised to see a sales tax on services.
Speaking of taxes, there has been talk lately, and I’ve been one of them, of City-County Council Democrats repealing the 65-percent public safety tax as a way to throw a monkey wrench at the incoming Republican Majority. If the Democrats want to gum up the works, they’ll have to wait until next year because the law required the tax only be voted on once a calendar year. So nothing could happen this year, but they could introduce an ordinance next year. I could see the tax being reduced to the amount necessary to pay for police and fire pensions, but that’s about it.
City-County Council Vice-President Joanne Sanders says she wants to be the new Minority Leader when the caucus makes the decision next year. She says her party should learn from the messages the voters sent this past election.
On the Republican side of things, the new leadership of Bob Cockrum did not come without a little jockeying and it did not involve the incoming President. Sources tell me things were getting to the point where some serious infighting was about to take place until incoming Majority Whip Ryan Vaughn took himself out of the running for Council President.
Mayor-elect Greg Ballard will finally get a chance to talk to the President of the United States today. George W. Bush will be in New Albany today and Ballard will be in the receiving line. He and the White House were unsuccessful in connecting when the Administration tried to call him and congratulate him on his victory.
Expect a decision later this week from State Representative Jon Elrod on whether he will run for Congress in the 7th Congressional District. Elrod says he is looking at the potential support he would get for a Congressional run. And he says voters are fed up with Washington partisanship and the “do nothing” Congress. Incumbent Congresswoman Julia Carson has suffered health problems as of late and has not declared whether she will run for re-election.
And before I forget, what do tax protesters do now that they’ve declared victory at the City-County building, they turn their attention to schools. This ought to be fun.
