Indianapolis City-County Council leaders have agreed to increase visitor and entertainment taxes to avoid what one councilor called a drastic reduction in services.
Mayor Greg Ballard and Council President Maggie Lewis on Monday afternoon announced an agreement on the city's $1.1 billion budget that calls for raising local car-rental taxes by 13 percent and hiking the city's admissions tax by 66 percent.
After the increases, the total tax on a car rental would be 17 percent, and the tax on tickets to Colts and Pacers games would be 10 percent.
The proposed tax increases were introduced at Monday night’s council meeting and must be voted on by March 1.
The multifaceted budget deal averts a $32 million cut that was set to fall on Marion County agencies, which include the sheriff, courts, prosecutor and public defender.
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The deal won’t mean the end of cost-cutting, though, as Ballard and Lewis said in a press release that they’re “committed to reducing 2013 operational spending by 5 percent.” Lotter said across-the-board reductions will leave the city with a much smaller gap, $6 million, and $42 million in reserves by the end of the year.
Ballard wanted to increase the visitor taxes because that revenue flows to the Capital Improvement Board, which oversees Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the Indiana Convention Center.
But under the deal, the first year's extra tax revenue, an estimated $6.7 million, would flow to Indianapolis' general fund. After that, 25 percent of the tax money—up to a maximum of $3 million—would go to the city’s coffers each year.
The CIB also will pay $5 million for public safety services this year. The agency had budgeted that money for repairs at the Capitol Commons Garage, and the city agreed to pay those bills out of its downtown tax-increment-finance district fund.
Brown said the deal also means the council's Democratic majority will drop its effort to levy a one-time, $15 million fee on the CIB. Council leaders saw the so-called payment-in-lieu-of-taxes proposal as a way to close this year’s budget gap and provide money for a police recruit class to replace retiring officers.
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Mayor Greg Ballard and Council President Maggie Lewis on Monday afternoon announced an agreement on the city's $1.1 billion budget that calls for raising local car-rental taxes by 13 percent and hiking the city's admissions tax by 66 percent.
After the increases, the total tax on a car rental would be 17 percent, and the tax on tickets to Colts and Pacers games would be 10 percent.
The proposed tax increases were introduced at Monday night’s council meeting and must be voted on by March 1.
The multifaceted budget deal averts a $32 million cut that was set to fall on Marion County agencies, which include the sheriff, courts, prosecutor and public defender.
...
The deal won’t mean the end of cost-cutting, though, as Ballard and Lewis said in a press release that they’re “committed to reducing 2013 operational spending by 5 percent.” Lotter said across-the-board reductions will leave the city with a much smaller gap, $6 million, and $42 million in reserves by the end of the year.
Ballard wanted to increase the visitor taxes because that revenue flows to the Capital Improvement Board, which oversees Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the Indiana Convention Center.
But under the deal, the first year's extra tax revenue, an estimated $6.7 million, would flow to Indianapolis' general fund. After that, 25 percent of the tax money—up to a maximum of $3 million—would go to the city’s coffers each year.
The CIB also will pay $5 million for public safety services this year. The agency had budgeted that money for repairs at the Capitol Commons Garage, and the city agreed to pay those bills out of its downtown tax-increment-finance district fund.
Brown said the deal also means the council's Democratic majority will drop its effort to levy a one-time, $15 million fee on the CIB. Council leaders saw the so-called payment-in-lieu-of-taxes proposal as a way to close this year’s budget gap and provide money for a police recruit class to replace retiring officers.
...
See the full article here:
