As I watched the snow come down yesterday I had this thought come to mind.   If you took 100 people and had them represent every unit of local government in the United States, 8 of them would be from Indiana.  Think about that when you think about local government reform.

Okay, where were we?  Oh yeah, the CIB and Uni Gov 2.0. There was a moment of irony as we got the bad news at today’s Capital Improvement Board meeting, the bad weather hitting the area had really started to come down.   Here’s a breakdown of the $115 million deficit officials announced. Lucas Oil […]

I’m in a hurry so I will make this quick. The Capital Improvement Board is projecting more than $110 million in deficits in short and long term operating expenses. The Mayor unveiled Uni Gov 2.0, calling for fire, poor relief, emergency services and property tax administration consolidation. More later. Gotta run.

Here are a few items I didn’t get a chance to post about yesterday… I did some math on how much it cost to run the Solders and Sailors Children’s Home in Knightstown.  At operational costs of $10 million per year for 114 children, that amounts to about $88,000 per child.  I’m for helping kids, but yikes! […]

Here it is! I told you people this was coming.  A Ball State University study shows more than $600 million in savings and efficiencies in government reform and consolidation. The Center for Business and Economic Research found that streamlining government as outlined in K-S (my new shorthand for Kernan-Shepard) would not only improve fire, police, […]

When I came to Indianapolis in 2004, I was very interested in government reform.  And one thing I noticed was the only people who usually opposed government reform usually worked for the government. Nearly five years later, not much has changed. I sat in a State Senate Committee hearing this morning over several Kernan-Sherpard proposals, […]

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a big fan of the Kernan-Shepard Report.  There’s a hearing this morning on some of its provisions.   Indiana Government could use a major colon cleansing and a lot of layers should go away for more accountability and eventually more savings.  However, there is one part of […]

Could gaming be the cure for  Indianapolis’ financial needs? Maybe. There are a couple dynamics taking place.  First, city officials have to plug a $30 million financial hole that will be here in 2010 when the final phase of the  property tax caps kick in.  Second, there are two areas that are just ripe for […]