Tim Swarens wrote a piece that appeared recently in the Indianapolis Star, focusing on Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard and our own Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, all about funding infrastructure.
Both mayors do not favor a commuter, tax, which has been used in other areas of the nation to fund cities starved for cash by taxing those working in the city and living in nearby suburbs.
The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce has floated the idea of a commuter tax in the Indy metro area, but state lawmakers have not shown any interest in that proposal. But there is still a major unsolved problem.
Here is the issue. People and businesses in places like Carmel and Fishers need to got to and from the City of Indianapolis. If Fishers and Carmel keep their streets and roads in nearly perfect shape, and you cross south of 96th Street to find a virtual mine field of chuck holes, this is not good for Indy or its suburbs.
As the late Bill Hudnut, long-time mayor of Indianapolis once said, you cannot be a suburb of nothing,
So, if the City of Indianapolis is starved for cash, how is this problem solved?
Fadness presented an idea he’s floated many times before, a regional approach with taxing power to solve Indy’s infrastructure woes. That may be just as tough a sell to state legislators as the commuter tax.
But Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett is now floating an idea that may have some promise. With technology leading to less need for office space, Hogsett is laying out the possibility of selling city assets, such as the City County Building and some prime city-owned parking assets downtown, that could bring a badly needed injection of cash into the city.
It reminds me of prior Mayor Greg Ballard’s sale of utility assets to fund some capital projects. Time will tell whether Hogsett’s idea gains any traction.
In the meantime, the commuter tax languishes as a proposal with few backers and a regional taxing authority will be studied. But don’t expect anything on these ideas to happen anytime soon.
