From the Indianapolis Star:
Twin proposals to increase Marion County’s event admission and car rental taxes passed a City-County Council committee tonight and are set for final votes Jan. 28.
The tax increases -- part of a budget deal announced by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and council leaders last week -- are allowed under a 2009 state bailout package for the Capital Improvement Board, and now city leaders want to use some of the proceeds for public safety. The CIB runs Indianapolis’ sports venues and convention center. State law gives the council the option of raising the two taxes only in the first two months of this year.
The admission tax would increase to 10 percent from 6 percent. It’s charged on tickets for events at Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Victory Field and the Indiana Convention Center. The local auto rental excise would increase to 6 percent from 4 percent, though the total local and state taxes paid by customers would increase to 17 percent.
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The committee voted 8-0 to advance the admissions tax increase to the full council and 7-1 for the auto rental tax hike, with Chairwoman Angela Mansfield, a Democrat, voting no. Some committee members expressed doubts but opted to let the full council vote.
Under the budget deal, all first-year proceeds from both tax hikes -- an estimated $6.7 million -- would go to Indianapolis public safety agencies for general expenses, potentially including the cost of raises for police officers and firefighters. After that, those agencies would get a 25 percent cut of the taxes annually, capped at $3 million.
The agreement also includes a one-time $5 million payment from the CIB to reimburse public safety agencies for police and fire coverage. That, however, is part of a one-for-one exchange in which the city would offset the CIB’s cost by shifting $5 million from a Downtown tax-increment financing district, with that money earmarked for a CIB project to repair the Capital Commons parking garage.
The committee also unanimously endorsed another part of the budget agreement -- a measure that would restore nearly $32 million in local income tax money for Marion County offices, agencies and officials. Ballard used his line-item veto to cut that money from this year’s budget but has agreed to restore it.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130115040
