Rebar Development will be permitted to begin certain construction work before 7 a.m. as crews continue work on the CityView project at 116th Street and Lantern Road in downtown Fishers.

The Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety approved the early-start waiver Tuesday morning. Rebar CEO Tom Dickey told board members that summer heat can create problems with concrete temperatures and add costs associated with cooling the concrete.

The concrete work requiring the earlier hours is expected to be completed by Aug. 10.

Dickey said the city has received one complaint from a resident of a nearby apartment building. The resident reported purchasing noise-reduction equipment to lessen the effects of the early construction activity. Rebar plans to offer her a stipend to help cover that expense.

Mayor Scott Fadness said there is a public-policy reason for allowing the work to be completed “as soon as possible.” He also asked what residents should expect during later stages of construction.

Dickey said framing work will begin soon, bringing the sound of nail guns before 6 a.m. That work will start near the 116th Street end of the site. As construction moves south, however, residents of the nearby apartments will experience more of the noise.

“There is some logic for allowing an earlier start,” Fadness said. “I think if people just know when these things are going to occur, that makes a huge difference.”

In other business Tuesday, the board:

• Awarded the final four Neighborhood Vibrancy Grants of the current round, totaling more than $67,000. Grants went to Northfield Estates, Cumberland Place Village, Intracoastal at Geist and Tremont.
• Approved bids for restroom facilities at athletic complexes for Fishers High School and Hamilton Southeastern High School.
• Approved sewer grants, agreements and a contract involving the Hyde Park and Lynwood Hills neighborhoods.

Soccer fans can watch the FIFA World Cup 26 championship match during a free outdoor event Sunday, July 19, at the Fishers Event Center.

The World Cup Final Watch Party will be held at the FORUM Credit Union Plaza, 11000 Stockdale St. Gates open at 2 p.m., with the match scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

The event is open to all ages. Tickets and advance registration are not required, and free surface parking will be available.

The match will be shown in an open-air setting on the plaza lawn. Local vendors, family-friendly activities and interactive fan experiences are also planned. Food and beverages will be available for purchase, but guests may not bring outside food or drinks.

Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets. Because the event will be outdoors, attendees should also prepare for the weather with items such as sunglasses or rain gear.

Each guest may bring one factory-sealed bottle of water containing no more than 40 ounces. One empty refillable aluminum or plastic water bottle is also permitted, but glass containers are prohibited.

Two water fountains are available inside the Fishers Event Center near Market District and Section 105.

The Humane Society for Hamilton County will hold its annual Woofstock Survivor 5K & Dog Walk on Saturday, Aug. 8, raising money to provide medical care for sick and injured animals.

The event is open to runners and walkers of all ability levels, with participants invited to bring their dogs. The $59 registration fee benefits the shelter’s Survivor Program. Each participant will receive a T-shirt, commemorative medal and swag bag.

Following the race, an after-party will feature food, festival games, a police K-9 demonstration, a 50/50 Ball Drop and a new children’s tent.

The Survivor Program pays for treatment of animals that arrive at the shelter with serious illnesses or injuries, including animals that have experienced abuse, neglect or abandonment. It also helps HSHC accept animals facing possible euthanasia at other shelters.

“It’s amazing to see how the Hamilton County community comes together through this event to help our most vulnerable animals every year,” HSHC Community Engagement Manager Emma Nobbe said. “Without their support for the Survivor Program, we could not provide the life-saving care that so many of our animals need to get the second chance they deserve.”

Participants may also raise additional money for the program. Prizes will be presented to fundraisers who reach designated benchmarks, with categories for youths, individuals, corporations and teams. Race awards will be presented by age category.

HSHC describes itself as an open-admission, no-kill shelter that does not euthanize animals because of limited time or space, treatable medical conditions or behavioral issues that can be rehabilitated. The organization says it has maintained an average live-placement rate of 98% since 2014.

Registration, donations and fundraising information are available at WoofstockRocks.com

We have some political news from our neighbors to the north. Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen announced Monday that he will seek a third term in 2027, telling supporters that serving as mayor “has been the greatest honor of my life” and that he’s “not done yet.”

With that, the natural question for those of us south of the county seat: what about Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness?

There has been no official announcement, but let’s keep two important things in mind at this stage.

First, follow the money. The Fadness for Fishers political committee reported just under $543,000 in cash on hand as of December 31, 2025, according to the committee’s most recent annual campaign finance report. The committee raised more than $279,000 in 2025 — a non-election year — while spending about $134,000, growing its war chest by roughly $145,000. The mayor has continued holding fundraising events this year, so expect that number to climb in 2026. Politicians do not typically build bankrolls like that to retire on.

Second, even though there has been nothing official, I have had plenty of off-the-record comments from people who would be in a position to know, all pointing in the same direction: our mayor is planning to run for another term. Again, nothing official, but that is the word I am getting.

Scott Fadness is the only mayor Fishers has ever known. After voters approved city status by a wide margin in a 2012 referendum, state lawmakers provided for an initial election in 2014, with the new city’s first officials serving one-year terms once Fishers officially became a city on January 1, 2015.

No Democrat filed in that first election, so the May 2014 Republican primary decided the office — and six candidates ran. The two front-runners were Walt Kelly, the former Fishers Town Council president, and Fadness, the town manager at the time. It was a close race between those two. Fadness won with 4,274 votes (46.5 percent) to Kelly’s 3,881 (42.2 percent) — a margin of just 393 votes, in a primary that drew only about 15 percent of registered voters.

Since then, Fadness has faced exactly one opponent in any mayoral election: Logan Day, in the 2019 Republican primary. That one was not close. Fadness took 6,057 votes to Day’s 2,941, winning better than two-to-one with over 67 percent. No Democrat has ever appeared on a Fishers mayoral ballot — Fadness ran unopposed in the general elections of 2014, 2015 and 2019, and drew no opposition at all, primary or general, in 2023.

We have plenty of time before the May primary and November general election of 2027. Will Scott Fadness make it official, and if so, when? If he runs, will anyone step up to challenge him in the Republican primary? And will any Democrat choose to become the first ever to contest a Fishers mayoral race?

We should have answers to these questions as time moves along. Stay tuned.

Indiana’s two major-party candidates for secretary of state will appear together at a OneZone Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday, August 18, at the FORUM Events Center in Fishers.

Republican nominee Max Engling and Democratic nominee Beau Bayh will be the featured guests for OneZone’s Voices of Leadership Luncheon.

According to the chamber, the discussion will focus on the candidates’ backgrounds, leadership philosophies and visions for Indiana. The event is expected to draw business executives, public officials, community leaders and other residents from across Central Indiana.

“The OneZone Chamber is committed to creating opportunities for meaningful civic engagement,” OneZone President and CEO Jack Russell said in the announcement.

Russell said the luncheon is intended to help business and community leaders learn more about the people seeking public office. OneZone described the program as a nonpartisan conversation rather than a traditional political debate.

The secretary of state serves as Indiana’s chief elections officer. The office also oversees business registrations, securities regulation and the maintenance of state records.

Bondry Consulting will serve as presenting sponsor of the luncheon. The company, founded in 2018, provides financial advisory services to municipalities, public agencies and private developers.

Registration is available through the events section of the OneZone Chamber website at this link.

For the first time in its history, Fishers will have to decide whether to tax its residents’ income — and the answer will shape how the city pays for police, fire protection, roads and parks for years to come.

The decision stems from Senate Enrolled Act 1, the sweeping property tax relief law Governor Mike Braun signed in April 2025. The law delivers savings to homeowners — including a credit of 10 percent of a homeowner’s property tax bill, capped at $300, and a growing supplemental homestead deduction that shrinks the taxable value of homes over the next several years. Most Fishers homeowners qualify for the full $300 credit.

But the same law fundamentally rewires how Indiana communities fund local government, and that is where Fishers faces its biggest change.

The end of a 50-year-old system

For roughly half a century, income taxes in Indiana have been a county decision. Hamilton County levies a 1.1 percent local income tax, and the state distributes the money among the county, its cities and towns using a formula in state law. Fishers has never controlled that rate — it simply received its share.

That formula was a sore spot for years. Because it was tied in part to property tax levy growth rather than population, Carmel received nearly $77 million in income tax revenue in 2025 while Fishers received about $42.5 million — despite the two cities having nearly identical populations. A 2020 law that diverted some of Carmel’s growth to Fishers prompted Carmel to sue the state, and a Marion County judge ruled the diversion unconstitutional in 2024.

The General Assembly largely put that dispute to rest in 2025. Legislation championed by then-State Senator Kyle Walker adjusted the Hamilton County distribution, sending Fishers roughly $8 million more in 2026, with Carmel gaining about $1.5 million. More significantly, the new statewide system will end the practice of pooling county income tax revenue and redistributing it altogether.

What replaces it

Under SEA 1, existing countywide income tax rates will expire. In their place, cities with populations above 3,500 — including Fishers — may adopt their own municipal income tax of up to 1.2 percent. Counties may levy their own tax for county services, with the combined county-plus-city rate capped at 2.9 percent, down from the previous statewide maximum of 3.75 percent.

The changes were originally set to take effect in 2028, but legislation signed in March 2026 delayed implementation one year, to 2029. The same measure created a process for counties and municipalities to negotiate future revenue-sharing arrangements, with a report due to legislative leaders by December 1 — meaning lawmakers may fine-tune the system again in the 2027 session.

Why Fishers is considering an income tax

The arithmetic is direct: the tens of millions of dollars Fishers now receives each year from the county income tax distribution will disappear when the old system expires. Unless the city adopts its own income tax, that money is simply gone — at the same time property tax relief is shrinking the city’s other major revenue source.

Mayor Scott Fadness has said the new laws will not force cuts to current services, but will slow the city’s projected revenue growth by “low millions” in the coming years. He has indicated he favors a city income tax, though no rate has been proposed. Fadness has predicted the new system will leave Fishers drawing on property and income taxes in roughly equal measure, and has argued the change is ultimately healthy — tying tax decisions directly to the local government that provides the services.

Critics of the state overhaul argue it pressures cities to raise income taxes to backfill property tax relief, shifting the burden rather than reducing it. Supporters counter that the lower combined rate cap and local control add transparency and accountability.

The timeline

City officials have said income tax discussions will unfold through the current and upcoming budget cycles. Under the revised state schedule, the Fishers City Council is expected to set the city’s first municipal income tax rate during a window in 2028, taking effect in 2029, and would then set the rate annually. Any ordinance would require public hearings before the council votes.

For residents, the bottom line is this: property tax bills are getting state-mandated relief now, and the decision about whether — and how much — Fishers taxes income will be made not at the Statehouse or the county building, but by the nine members of the Fishers City Council, in public, over the next two years.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools voters will decide November 3 whether to replace the district’s operating referendum, just three years into the eight-year measure approved in 2023 with 70% support. HSE is far from alone. School finance experts estimate 40 to 50 Indiana districts will place referendum questions on this fall’s ballot, including Carmel, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville.

Why so many districts, all at once, and why is HSE asking again so soon? The answer starts with two changes state lawmakers made in 2025 — and with the way Indiana requires school districts to keep their money in separate boxes.

What changed in 2025

Senate Enrolled Act 1, the property tax overhaul signed by Gov. Mike Braun in 2025, gave homeowners relief through larger homestead deductions. Those deductions shrink the assessed value a tax rate is applied against. HSE’s current referendum rate — just under 20 cents per $100 of assessed value — stays the same, but it now yields far less. Consultants project the district will collect about $45.3 million less than expected between 2026 and 2031, and HSE’s net assessed value is projected to decline for several years as the new deductions phase in.

The same legislation limited when schools may ask voters for help. Referendum questions may now appear only on general election ballots in even-numbered years. If HSE waits, its next opportunity is November 2028 — well after the revenue squeeze bites. That one-chance-every-two-years rule is why so many central Indiana districts are on the ballot this November.

The money is in separate boxes

Many residents ask a fair question: if the district is short on money, why do we see construction and capital projects underway? The answer is that Indiana law requires school districts to keep their money in separate funds, and strictly limits what each fund may pay for.

The Education Fund is state tuition support, paid per student, and covers teachers and classroom instruction. The Operations Fund, fed by local property taxes, pays for capital projects, building maintenance, transportation and bus replacement. The Debt Service Fund repays bonds the district sells for construction and renovation. The Referendum Fund holds voter-approved property taxes, spent as promised in the ballot language — at HSE, mostly teacher pay.

Money generally cannot move between these boxes. Bond proceeds and debt service dollars legally cannot pay a teacher’s salary. So a renovation funded by bonds moves ahead even while the classroom budget is squeezed — and stopping the project would not free up a dollar for teachers.

Lawmakers acknowledged that rigidity with one narrow exception: in 2026 only, districts may make a one-time transfer from debt service to operations. HSE’s board approved moving $2.6 million under that provision in July.

Hasn’t the district cut costs?

HSE says it has. The district reports identifying more than $7 million in ongoing reductions over the past two years, and its budget reduction committee has recommended $7.8 million in cuts, partly reflecting enrollment roughly 1,500 students below its level six years ago. Thanks to attrition, all 18 teachers who received reduction-in-force notices this spring will keep jobs, and no teacher layoffs are coming this year.

The district also points to a structural gap: HSE ranks 370th of 376 Indiana districts in state tuition support, receiving $7,121 per student. At the state’s non-charter average of $7,490, HSE would collect more than $7.4 million in additional annual revenue.

What voters will see — and what they would pay

State law requires the ballot to show the maximum possible impact, so the question will cite a rate of up to 36 cents per $100 of assessed value over eight years, and roughly $700 per year on a median home rounded up to $400,000. District officials emphasize they do not expect to levy the maximum in any year. CFO Tim Brown will propose a 2027 rate of 22.75 cents — about $3 more per month for the median homeowner than they pay under the current referendum. The school board would set the rate annually through the budget process.

If voters say no, district officials say HSE would face additional reductions to staffing, programming and student supports — with no chance to ask again until November 2028.

Fishers Freight coach Dixie Wooten made two points in his postgame interview Saturday night from Quad City. He praised his defense in the 49-35 win over the Steamwheelers, and he made it clear that even though his team has a bye week ahead, no one will be taking the week off.

The reason is simple. The Freight (8-7) close the regular season at home against the Orlando Pirates on Sunday, July 26, 4pm at the Fishers Event Center. A win over the Pirates should guarantee the local franchise’s first playoff berth in just its second season.

Coach Wooten could just as easily have praised kicker Calum Sutherland. Sutherland booted four deuces — kickoffs through the uprights, worth two points each in the IFL — for eight points. The Freight also picked up a safety (two points and the ball back) and what the IFL calls a rouge, a single point for tackling the returner in the end zone on a kickoff. That’s 11 points from special teams and defensive pressure alone, and it was a big factor in the 14-point margin in Moline.

Every road win is a tough one in the IFL, and this was no exception. Quad City struggled early in the season but had beaten some good teams in recent weeks. Fishers knew winning this contest was a requirement to stay in the playoff picture, and the Freight delivered a convincing win.

Now, Coach Wooten and his team have about two weeks to prepare for the most important game the Freight have ever played in their short history. Win on July 26, and Fishers is in the postseason. It should be a great atmosphere.

If you want to be a part of it, tickets are available for the July 26 game, 4pm at the Fishers Event Center.

Fishers has a queen to cheer for at this year’s Hamilton County 4-H Fair.

Kendall Manges, a member of the Fishers Showstoppers 4-H club, was crowned the 2026 Hamilton County 4-H Fair Queen on Friday evening, July 10, at the annual queen pageant held in the Exhibition Center at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville.

The crown caps a steady climb for Manges, the daughter of Chris and Chandra Manges. At last year’s pageant she was named second runner-up — and this year she completed the journey to the top, following a familiar path: both the 2024 and 2025 queens had also served on the Queen’s Court the year before winning their titles.

Manges also earned a distinction few contestants can claim: she was named Miss Congeniality for the second consecutive year, an honor that reflects the respect and affection of her fellow contestants.

Pageant contestants are judged in three categories: a private interview with the judges, a professional wear competition, and an evening gown competition that includes an on-stage question.

The 2026 Queen’s Court includes first runner-up Avery Hills, second runner-up Rachel Deeter, third runner-up Charlotte Wiggins and fourth runner-up Gisselle Effing.

As queen, Manges will preside over the Hamilton County 4-H Fair, which runs July 16–20 at the fairgrounds in Noblesville, and will be eligible to represent Hamilton County at the Miss Indiana State Fair Queen pageant.

We are in the midst of summer and that means plenty of road construction.  The Olio Road & Southeastern Parkway roundabout reconstruction is now underway.  Be aware of lane restrictions and road closures scheduled for the coming week.

it’s another long update, but here it is, as provided by the City of Fishers:

• 96th Street and Cyntheanne Road – Full Closure
• 136th Street Widening – Southeastern Parkway to Prairie Baptist Road – follow detour route
• 116th and Allisonville Intersection Improvements Project – Down to one lane in all directions
• Southeastern Parkway & Olio Road Roundabout Improvements – Periodic lane restrictions
• 131st Street Road Closure – Follow posted signage (July 13-17)

126th Street – single-lane restrictions (Beginning July 13)

Continue reading Fishers area road construction update for the week of Sunday, July 12 →