Having lived in Indianapolis for nearly half a century, I can say that the city is - or at least was - a great place to live. Unfortunately, over the last 25-30 years, politicians and business leaders have seemingly developed a raging community inferiority complex.
Everything must now be “world class.” And those things which will make the city “world class” are not only all very expensive but can be obtained, apparently, only by diverting public funds which could be much better used for public safety, public transportation, public sanitation and public education.
Tax subsidies for “needed” business development are routine municipal fiscal policy. Everything from free shuttle busses to multi-million dollar condominium developments become a part of our “cultural” or “economic” development, and are therefore eligible recipients of government largess.
The media has pointed out that an “investment” over these same years of $4 billion - a huge part of which was tax funds - has left the city with a flat tax base. Plus a recent down-grading of the city’s credit rating by two different bond rating houses.
This is “development?”
My blog, Indy Tax Dollars, simply points out where we are, suggests some of the things that got us there, and asks city leaders - politicians and businessmen - to review, and reconsider, the policies in practice before barging ahead along the same dangerous paths.
One major example. While the RCA Dome was still perfectly functioning - except for Colts income purposes - and still far from paid for, the city agreed to build a stadium, costing approximately ten times as much as the current structure, some nine months after Standard & Poors had downgraded the city’s credit rating. All of this while the city leadership was well aware that public safety pension funds were in need of an infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars.
I believe it is a tragic abuse of common sense, and a gross mis-placement of priorities, to contract to spend three quarters of a billion dollars on a stadium and only then pretend that all these public safety crises seem to have arisen very suddenly and by complete surprise.
And all the “development” has left the administration in a panic-driven campaign for their only solution - more and more taxes.
I never saw Satchel Paige - a fantastic baseball pitcher who didn’t get to the majors because he was black. But he had some sayings that lived on after him. One was , “Don’t look back. Somethin’ might be gainin’ on you.”
I’d have to disagree with Satch on this one. We’d better look back, because fiscal disaster really is “gainin’ on us” and we can’t outrun it much longer. An honest and objective look back just might give us a needed change of direction so we can do the “gainin.”
6 responses so far ↓
Douglas Karr // Jun 9th 2007 at 9:49 am
Fred,
I think you point to issues facing every major city and the short-sightedness of politicians. I think you’re wrong on one item - the stadium. That’s a long term investment that will pay off. I lived in Denver and heard the same complaints when they built their stadium.
The Colts in Indy bring a lot more tax money to the city than will be spent. It’s a fantastic long-term investment and showed some bravery on the sides of our political leaders. Take a look around town on Colts Friday (or any other day) and you can count the tax dollars just on the shirts on folks’ backs.
Try to get a seat in a downtown restaurant on game day and tell me those restaurants and hotels don’t appreciate having an NFL team! The Colts keep this city alive and they need a home that isn’t an ugly chunk of aging concrete in the middle of town.
The new stadium is something for all of us to be proud of! And the tax dollars it will bring will be far more than you ever imagined… the story repeats itself in every city with a new stadium.
With much respect,
Doug
PS: Thanks for posting on I Choose Indy! You’ve got a great blog that asks our leaders the pressing questions. We need to continue to hold them accountable.
Fred McCarthy // Jun 9th 2007 at 7:12 pm
Doug -
I’m disappointed that you seem to have read only a sentence or two of my blog relating to the stadium. We have had a stadium for about a quarter century and it has failed to bring in the flow of tax dollars proclaimed by its advocates.
Financial smoke-and-mirrors downtown have us in a position of building a new stadium while we still owe MORE on the first one than the original cost. The tax dollars that are brought in, for the most part, do not go to support basic municipal activities but will pay off the bonds building the stadium. World class or not, you do not build a tax base by decimating the assessment rolls and coercing taxpayers into subsidizing entertainment enterprises. “Invest” in public safety, public transportation, publis sanitation — YES. “Invest” in something which will allow a relatively small part of the population to have an afternoon of football at a price less than the actual cost of presentation — NO. And I see no particular reason why patrons who prefer Broad Ripple or Speedway or Irvington should subsidize the competition of their own favorite pub.
Douglas Karr // Jun 9th 2007 at 7:48 pm
Hi Fred,
I respect your opinion, I just happen to disagree with it.
You’re evaluating the stadium based on bricks and mortar, not on the business that takes place inside of it, outside of it, and nationally over it. You say we ‘owe’… but ‘owe’ is a paper line item, it doesn’t take into consideration all of the tax revenue from business surrounding having an NFL team nor the national media coverage and other events.
For a period, I worked at The Star and can tell you that much business was done thanks to The Colts that sold a lot of papers and a lot of ads. That translates to profit, local salary… and of course tax revenue.
It’s a piece of a much larger puzzle than just the patrons that sit in the seats and watch the game.
I may never even have the opportunity to sit in the new stadium, but I still think it’s a fantastic, courageous decision for the city that will result, long-term, in the revenue for public safety, transportation, sanitation, education, etc.
Fred McCarthy // Jun 9th 2007 at 10:46 pm
Well, of course, the newspaper is one of the beneficiaries, as are the downtown hotels, bars and restaurants.
I would just suggest that the monetary worth of city pride is a matter of opinion. The municipality is facing a fiscal crisis after years of subsidizing the Colts and that is not just opinion.
Whatever tax income is being generated - it is not going into city coffers. If you are saying it is your opinion that this diversion away from municipal uses is appropriate, then we really do have a difference of opinion.
Douglas Karr // Jun 10th 2007 at 12:46 am
But always with respect, Fred!
I really do love what you are doing with your blog - you’re doing us all a service and it’s appreciated. Citizen journalism deserves everyone’s respect, especially someone with your stature and experience.
I don’t in any way want to make readers think that I believe I’m right or you’re wrong… it’s a theory that’s difficult, or even impossible, to track in any way.
Thanks for the conversation. It’s a worthy discussion that a lot is riding on!
Doug
JOHN A. HUSER SR. // Oct 7th 2007 at 12:52 pm
FRED: IF YOU THINK INDIANAPOLIS HAS A PROBLEM, YOU SHOULD LIVE IN CARMEL. WE HAVE A MAYOR THAT SPENDS MONEY LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE BUILDINGS, ART CENTERS AND ROUNDABOUTS RUNNING INTO THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
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