Prepare to pay more when you rent a car in Marion County or spring for tickets to Pacers and Colts games.
Tax increases approved Monday by the City-County Council will add a couple of dollars to the cost of a car rental and will tack another 4 percent onto ticket prices for events at Downtown sports venues and the Indiana Convention Center.
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Democratic President Maggie Lewis and other council leaders had agreed to the tax increases earlier this month in a bipartisan budget agreement with Republican Mayor Greg Ballard.
But the votes on the two taxes — 16-12 both times, with eight Democrats and eight Republicans voting in favor — made for tough decisions among council members who participated. Some negotiated with caucus leaders behind the scenes before the meeting to decide how the votes would fall, guaranteeing enough for passage.
“Frankly, proposals 23 and 24 make me want to throw up,” said Republican Robert Lutz, summing up the views of many on both sides of the aisle. He voted against the car rental tax increase but in favor of the admissions tax increase, which applies to tickets for events at Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Victory Field and the convention center, all run by the city’s Capital Improvement Board.
Democrat Pam Hickman, before voting for the car rental tax hike, said: “In the end, I will vote for this because it is the only other alternative the mayor gave us.”
Ballard issued a statement applauding the council for the “difficult but necessary votes to strengthen the fiscal position of our city.”
The increases will create a new stream of revenue to compensate Indianapolis public safety agencies for providing police and fire coverage at CIB facilities. Public safety will get the full proceeds the first year (estimated at $6.7 million) and 25percent after that.
After the first year, the remaining 75 percent of the proceeds from the tax increases will go to the CIB’s budget.
The council voted to increase the admissions tax to 10 percent from 6 percent. That tax doesn’t apply to nonprofit and educational groups, which are exempt.
And the council increased the local auto rental excise to 6 percent from 4 percent. (That will make the total local and state taxes paid by customers 17 percent, plus existing extra fees for cars rented at the airport.)
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