Indiana’s two major-party candidates for secretary of state will appear together at a OneZone Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday, August 18, at the FORUM Events Center in Fishers.

Republican nominee Max Engling and Democratic nominee Beau Bayh will be the featured guests for OneZone’s Voices of Leadership Luncheon.

According to the chamber, the discussion will focus on the candidates’ backgrounds, leadership philosophies and visions for Indiana. The event is expected to draw business executives, public officials, community leaders and other residents from across Central Indiana.

“The OneZone Chamber is committed to creating opportunities for meaningful civic engagement,” OneZone President and CEO Jack Russell said in the announcement.

Russell said the luncheon is intended to help business and community leaders learn more about the people seeking public office. OneZone described the program as a nonpartisan conversation rather than a traditional political debate.

The secretary of state serves as Indiana’s chief elections officer. The office also oversees business registrations, securities regulation and the maintenance of state records.

Bondry Consulting will serve as presenting sponsor of the luncheon. The company, founded in 2018, provides financial advisory services to municipalities, public agencies and private developers.

Registration is available through the events section of the OneZone Chamber website at this link.

For the first time in its history, Fishers will have to decide whether to tax its residents’ income — and the answer will shape how the city pays for police, fire protection, roads and parks for years to come.

The decision stems from Senate Enrolled Act 1, the sweeping property tax relief law Governor Mike Braun signed in April 2025. The law delivers savings to homeowners — including a credit of 10 percent of a homeowner’s property tax bill, capped at $300, and a growing supplemental homestead deduction that shrinks the taxable value of homes over the next several years. Most Fishers homeowners qualify for the full $300 credit.

But the same law fundamentally rewires how Indiana communities fund local government, and that is where Fishers faces its biggest change.

The end of a 50-year-old system

For roughly half a century, income taxes in Indiana have been a county decision. Hamilton County levies a 1.1 percent local income tax, and the state distributes the money among the county, its cities and towns using a formula in state law. Fishers has never controlled that rate — it simply received its share.

That formula was a sore spot for years. Because it was tied in part to property tax levy growth rather than population, Carmel received nearly $77 million in income tax revenue in 2025 while Fishers received about $42.5 million — despite the two cities having nearly identical populations. A 2020 law that diverted some of Carmel’s growth to Fishers prompted Carmel to sue the state, and a Marion County judge ruled the diversion unconstitutional in 2024.

The General Assembly largely put that dispute to rest in 2025. Legislation championed by then-State Senator Kyle Walker adjusted the Hamilton County distribution, sending Fishers roughly $8 million more in 2026, with Carmel gaining about $1.5 million. More significantly, the new statewide system will end the practice of pooling county income tax revenue and redistributing it altogether.

What replaces it

Under SEA 1, existing countywide income tax rates will expire. In their place, cities with populations above 3,500 — including Fishers — may adopt their own municipal income tax of up to 1.2 percent. Counties may levy their own tax for county services, with the combined county-plus-city rate capped at 2.9 percent, down from the previous statewide maximum of 3.75 percent.

The changes were originally set to take effect in 2028, but legislation signed in March 2026 delayed implementation one year, to 2029. The same measure created a process for counties and municipalities to negotiate future revenue-sharing arrangements, with a report due to legislative leaders by December 1 — meaning lawmakers may fine-tune the system again in the 2027 session.

Why Fishers is considering an income tax

The arithmetic is direct: the tens of millions of dollars Fishers now receives each year from the county income tax distribution will disappear when the old system expires. Unless the city adopts its own income tax, that money is simply gone — at the same time property tax relief is shrinking the city’s other major revenue source.

Mayor Scott Fadness has said the new laws will not force cuts to current services, but will slow the city’s projected revenue growth by “low millions” in the coming years. He has indicated he favors a city income tax, though no rate has been proposed. Fadness has predicted the new system will leave Fishers drawing on property and income taxes in roughly equal measure, and has argued the change is ultimately healthy — tying tax decisions directly to the local government that provides the services.

Critics of the state overhaul argue it pressures cities to raise income taxes to backfill property tax relief, shifting the burden rather than reducing it. Supporters counter that the lower combined rate cap and local control add transparency and accountability.

The timeline

City officials have said income tax discussions will unfold through the current and upcoming budget cycles. Under the revised state schedule, the Fishers City Council is expected to set the city’s first municipal income tax rate during a window in 2028, taking effect in 2029, and would then set the rate annually. Any ordinance would require public hearings before the council votes.

For residents, the bottom line is this: property tax bills are getting state-mandated relief now, and the decision about whether — and how much — Fishers taxes income will be made not at the Statehouse or the county building, but by the nine members of the Fishers City Council, in public, over the next two years.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools voters will decide November 3 whether to replace the district’s operating referendum, just three years into the eight-year measure approved in 2023 with 70% support. HSE is far from alone. School finance experts estimate 40 to 50 Indiana districts will place referendum questions on this fall’s ballot, including Carmel, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville.

Why so many districts, all at once, and why is HSE asking again so soon? The answer starts with two changes state lawmakers made in 2025 — and with the way Indiana requires school districts to keep their money in separate boxes.

What changed in 2025

Senate Enrolled Act 1, the property tax overhaul signed by Gov. Mike Braun in 2025, gave homeowners relief through larger homestead deductions. Those deductions shrink the assessed value a tax rate is applied against. HSE’s current referendum rate — just under 20 cents per $100 of assessed value — stays the same, but it now yields far less. Consultants project the district will collect about $45.3 million less than expected between 2026 and 2031, and HSE’s net assessed value is projected to decline for several years as the new deductions phase in.

The same legislation limited when schools may ask voters for help. Referendum questions may now appear only on general election ballots in even-numbered years. If HSE waits, its next opportunity is November 2028 — well after the revenue squeeze bites. That one-chance-every-two-years rule is why so many central Indiana districts are on the ballot this November.

The money is in separate boxes

Many residents ask a fair question: if the district is short on money, why do we see construction and capital projects underway? The answer is that Indiana law requires school districts to keep their money in separate funds, and strictly limits what each fund may pay for.

The Education Fund is state tuition support, paid per student, and covers teachers and classroom instruction. The Operations Fund, fed by local property taxes, pays for capital projects, building maintenance, transportation and bus replacement. The Debt Service Fund repays bonds the district sells for construction and renovation. The Referendum Fund holds voter-approved property taxes, spent as promised in the ballot language — at HSE, mostly teacher pay.

Money generally cannot move between these boxes. Bond proceeds and debt service dollars legally cannot pay a teacher’s salary. So a renovation funded by bonds moves ahead even while the classroom budget is squeezed — and stopping the project would not free up a dollar for teachers.

Lawmakers acknowledged that rigidity with one narrow exception: in 2026 only, districts may make a one-time transfer from debt service to operations. HSE’s board approved moving $2.6 million under that provision in July.

Hasn’t the district cut costs?

HSE says it has. The district reports identifying more than $7 million in ongoing reductions over the past two years, and its budget reduction committee has recommended $7.8 million in cuts, partly reflecting enrollment roughly 1,500 students below its level six years ago. Thanks to attrition, all 18 teachers who received reduction-in-force notices this spring will keep jobs, and no teacher layoffs are coming this year.

The district also points to a structural gap: HSE ranks 370th of 376 Indiana districts in state tuition support, receiving $7,121 per student. At the state’s non-charter average of $7,490, HSE would collect more than $7.4 million in additional annual revenue.

What voters will see — and what they would pay

State law requires the ballot to show the maximum possible impact, so the question will cite a rate of up to 36 cents per $100 of assessed value over eight years, and roughly $700 per year on a median home rounded up to $400,000. District officials emphasize they do not expect to levy the maximum in any year. CFO Tim Brown will propose a 2027 rate of 22.75 cents — about $3 more per month for the median homeowner than they pay under the current referendum. The school board would set the rate annually through the budget process.

If voters say no, district officials say HSE would face additional reductions to staffing, programming and student supports — with no chance to ask again until November 2028.

Fishers Freight coach Dixie Wooten made two points in his postgame interview Saturday night from Quad City. He praised his defense in the 49-35 win over the Steamwheelers, and he made it clear that even though his team has a bye week ahead, no one will be taking the week off.

The reason is simple. The Freight (8-7) close the regular season at home against the Orlando Pirates on Sunday, July 26, 4pm at the Fishers Event Center. A win over the Pirates should guarantee the local franchise’s first playoff berth in just its second season.

Coach Wooten could just as easily have praised kicker Calum Sutherland. Sutherland booted four deuces — kickoffs through the uprights, worth two points each in the IFL — for eight points. The Freight also picked up a safety (two points and the ball back) and what the IFL calls a rouge, a single point for tackling the returner in the end zone on a kickoff. That’s 11 points from special teams and defensive pressure alone, and it was a big factor in the 14-point margin in Moline.

Every road win is a tough one in the IFL, and this was no exception. Quad City struggled early in the season but had beaten some good teams in recent weeks. Fishers knew winning this contest was a requirement to stay in the playoff picture, and the Freight delivered a convincing win.

Now, Coach Wooten and his team have about two weeks to prepare for the most important game the Freight have ever played in their short history. Win on July 26, and Fishers is in the postseason. It should be a great atmosphere.

If you want to be a part of it, tickets are available for the July 26 game, 4pm at the Fishers Event Center.

Fishers has a queen to cheer for at this year’s Hamilton County 4-H Fair.

Kendall Manges, a member of the Fishers Showstoppers 4-H club, was crowned the 2026 Hamilton County 4-H Fair Queen on Friday evening, July 10, at the annual queen pageant held in the Exhibition Center at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville.

The crown caps a steady climb for Manges, the daughter of Chris and Chandra Manges. At last year’s pageant she was named second runner-up — and this year she completed the journey to the top, following a familiar path: both the 2024 and 2025 queens had also served on the Queen’s Court the year before winning their titles.

Manges also earned a distinction few contestants can claim: she was named Miss Congeniality for the second consecutive year, an honor that reflects the respect and affection of her fellow contestants.

Pageant contestants are judged in three categories: a private interview with the judges, a professional wear competition, and an evening gown competition that includes an on-stage question.

The 2026 Queen’s Court includes first runner-up Avery Hills, second runner-up Rachel Deeter, third runner-up Charlotte Wiggins and fourth runner-up Gisselle Effing.

As queen, Manges will preside over the Hamilton County 4-H Fair, which runs July 16–20 at the fairgrounds in Noblesville, and will be eligible to represent Hamilton County at the Miss Indiana State Fair Queen pageant.

We are in the midst of summer and that means plenty of road construction.  The Olio Road & Southeastern Parkway roundabout reconstruction is now underway.  Be aware of lane restrictions and road closures scheduled for the coming week.

it’s another long update, but here it is, as provided by the City of Fishers:

• 96th Street and Cyntheanne Road – Full Closure
• 136th Street Widening – Southeastern Parkway to Prairie Baptist Road – follow detour route
• 116th and Allisonville Intersection Improvements Project – Down to one lane in all directions
• Southeastern Parkway & Olio Road Roundabout Improvements – Periodic lane restrictions
• 131st Street Road Closure – Follow posted signage (July 13-17)

126th Street – single-lane restrictions (Beginning July 13)

Continue reading Fishers area road construction update for the week of Sunday, July 12 →

It started with two neighbors talking across a fence.

Mayor Scott Fadness, making a rare appearance before the Fishers Redevelopment Commission Wednesday, July 8, said the city’s development of the Navient Building — and the Fieldhouse project rising next to it — began when his deputy mayor’s neighbor, a real estate professional working for the company, mentioned one evening that his firm was looking to renovate or expand.

“It’s a little bit of luck that we happen to be living next to that guy,” Fadness said, adding that it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good.

That backyard conversation grew into what the mayor called the region’s most significant office transaction in years.

“Landing the largest office deal in the last decade in central Indiana took a degree of creativity and a little bit of risk taking,” Fadness told the commission. “The Navient Building is about half the size of the Chase Tower downtown (Indianapolis) in office space. It was about 30% or 40% occupied, and the people who were in that space, the tenants, were probably on their last leg, a number of them trying to sublease and things of that nature. Worst case scenario, the city would sit with a 400,000 square foot office building empty.”

“We really worked diligently with Buckingham to come up with a kind of master development for that south end,” he said. “There’s a lot of moving pieces in this.”

Closing on the building is set for this week, with tenants moving in and out. Buckingham Companies will serve as master developer for the south end of the district. The firm is handling the multifamily development, helped the city secure the Navient Building and flip it to an owner-occupied tenant, and will deliver a turnkey Fieldhouse the mayor hopes will open no later than early 2028.

To hit that date, Fadness said, “we need to be building this thing yesterday.” The items before the commission Wednesday were designed to keep the process moving. A professional services agreement allows the developer to enter into contracts for early-order items such as steel, putting the city in line for construction. Once permanent financing is in place and the lease is signed, the developer would be reimbursed for those expenses.

The city will ultimately own the Fieldhouse under what Fadness described as a “rent-to-own” arrangement, with a turnkey lease — currently being negotiated — in the interim. The developer would be responsible for certain major infrastructure aspects of the building. General fund dollars will pay for the facility, and Indy Ignite will operate it.

Fadness framed the Fieldhouse as a way to smooth out the seasonal rhythms of the district anchored by the Fishers Event Center, which he called a catalyst for restaurants, hotels and development. The arena is busy through fall, winter and spring, he said, but sits relatively quiet for five to six months over the summer.

The Fieldhouse could fill that gap with tournaments, summer camps and other activities, feeding an ecosystem that already includes 40 restaurants committed to the district and nearly 500 hotel rooms.

The mayor closed by thanking commission members for their support and willingness to take on what he called some pretty creative projects — projects that, in this case, trace back to a lucky conversation over a fence row.

The luxury hotel planned for the site of the canceled Chicken N Pickle project in Fishers District will carry Hilton’s boutique Curio Collection brand and is now expected to cost $70 million or less, according to a report by Mickey Shuey of the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Fishers-based BW Development plans the five-story, 125-room hotel on a 1.52-acre parcel south of USA Parkway, between the firm’s two-building retail project under construction and the Fishers Event Center. When Mayor Scott Fadness announced the hotel in February, it was pitched as a $75 million, unbranded project replacing Chicken N Pickle, which scrapped its Fishers plans in late 2025 after missing the city’s development timeline.

BW Development originally planned to use Hilton’s contemporary Tempo brand but switched to the higher-end Curio Collection last month, IBJ reported. BW co-owner and Chief Growth Officer Troy Woodruff said design modifications brought the expected cost to between $60 million and $70 million.

“The Curio gives us a lot more flexibility, and it operates within the framework and the quality of the type of hotel we’re wanting to build,” Woodruff told IBJ, noting that few comparable hotels exist in Hamilton County or Indianapolis.

The Curio Collection includes more than 200 properties in 47 countries, with 120 more in Hilton’s pipeline. Curio hotels are individually designed and typically command higher room rates than Tempo properties.

Woodruff expects demand from teams and partners tied to TWG Motorsports’ Cadillac Formula One program, as well as executives visiting JD Sports, which announced in June it will move its North American headquarters to the nearby former Navient property on USA Parkway.

The project is working through city approvals, though it was pulled from the July 1 Fishers Planned Use Development Committee agenda to give the developer time to fine-tune costs. Completion is still expected by mid to late 2028. BW has the site under contract from the city, contingent on approvals and financing.

Plans call for a rooftop bar and pool, 14,000 square feet of ballroom and event space, a cafe and patio, and at least 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with at least four restaurants. BW is also spending $33 million on 30,000 square feet of upscale retail and restaurant space next door as part of The Crossing expansion.

The Crossing is part of the $750 million, 123-acre Fishers District developed by Indianapolis-based Thompson Thrift Development. BW sister company Build BW is the general contractor, with Indianapolis-based Ratio as building and landscape architect.

This summary is based on original reporting by Mickey Shuey for the Indianapolis Business Journal.  You can read the entire story on the IBJ Web site at this link.  You will need an online subscription to access this story.  As I have written many times before, subscribe to your local media!  That is the only way to keep local journalism alive.  

With the resignation of Principal Brian Behrman, Fishers Elementary School has a leadership vacancy just weeks before classes resume August 5.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board has scheduled a 7:30am meeting Thursday, July 16, to vote on a recommendation from district administrators naming a new principal for the school. The published agenda does not disclose who administrators will recommend.

Members of the public may address the board by signing up at the meeting before the session begins. Comments will be limited to the lone agenda item — approval of the new principal.

The board accepted Behrman’s resignation at its July 8 session. If the appointment is approved Thursday, the incoming principal will have less than three weeks to prepare before students return.

This week’s Fridays with Larry podcast focuses on one of the biggest changes in college athletics in decades — Name, Image and Likeness, better known as NIL.

I begin the podcast with commentary on how NIL has reshaped college sports by allowing student-athletes to profit from their personal brands while opening new opportunities for businesses to partner with them.

My guest this week is Erik Braden, CEO of Fishers-based Braden Business Systems. He discusses why his company chose to become involved in NIL partnerships, first with former Purdue basketball standout Braden Smith and now with Indiana University football players Josh Hoover and Fishers High School grad Khobie Martin.

Braden also explains how the company’s NIL program has gone beyond marketing by partnering with Gleaners Food Bank, combining charitable giving with student-athlete appearances to help address food insecurity in Indiana.

The podcast concludes with a lighter story from California, where Disneyland celebrated a major milestone by welcoming its one-billionth guest.

Fridays With Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

You can listen to this week’s edition of Fridays with Larry using this video link, this audio link, or the links below.