Mayor Scott Fadness plans to ask the Fishers City Council to approve a short term borrowing plan aimed at keeping tax rates stable while funding street maintenance projects. Fadness told the Fishers City Council Finance Committee this proposal is the equivalent of dipping into future tax revenues now.  The first request will come in the form of a recommendation to the council to approve a $1 million general obligation bond, which would be paid back within a year.  A measure to issue the bond, along with a public hearing, will occur at a future Fishers City Council meeting.

“What we’ve done here, I think, is a creative way to start layering-on these routine maintenance costs, while maintaining the tax rate as flat,” Fadness told the Finance Committee.

The mayor said impact fees paid by developers to the city, under state law, may only be used to build new roads or add lanes to old ones.  Fadness added that the city will need to wean itself off impact fees in the future as growth begins to slow.

The mayor indicated this tactic may be utilized each year to fund needed road and street maintenance if the rules set by the state continue unchanged.