The Hamilton County Council finished the annual exercise of budget hearings during the past week.  According to my news-gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter, the 2020 county spending plan calls for a budget of just under $100 million.

The proposed budget includes six new full-time positions, one each in the Surveyor’s Office, Parks and Recreation Department, Sheriff’s Department, Office of Emergency Management, and Soil and Water Conservation District. A new full-time and part-time employee have also been budgeted for the Youth Assistance Program as well as a part-time employee for the Purdue Extension Office. The proposed budget includes raises averaging 7 percent for county employees and 3 percent for elected officials. A total of $1.2 million was also budgeted to support 13 Hamilton County not-for-profit agencies, including Janus, Aspire and the Humane Society.

“All in all, budget deliberations went extremely well,” said Council Vice President Rick McKinney. McKinney will become Council President in January. “Hamilton County government is in a solidly strong financial position today, which will continue through the end of 2020.”

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the council’s next monthly meeting. The council is scheduled to formally adopt the proposed budget at a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 16 in Conference Room 1A. Once approved, the budget will be sent to the State of Indiana for approval before going into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Natural gas lines were ruptured in the Windermere and Fox Run subdivisions by  Metronet crews this week, according to a statement issued by the City of Fishers Friday.  This led to a meeting Friday afternoon involving Fishers city officials and representatives of Metronet.

Fishers has invoked a city ordinance and has issued a temporary “stop work order on all digging until appropriate safety practices are ensured.”  The city is permitting Metronet to continue aerial work (overhead lines), restoration activities, and completion work that doesn’t require digging.

The city statement says Metronet is regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) and any resident complaints can be directed to their Consumer Affairs Division at iurc.in.gov.

“The City of Fishers takes these incidents very seriously and has the utmost concern for the safety of our residents,” the city statement says.

Fishers listed the following actions the city is taking as a result of the. gas line ruptures:

This continues to be a tough road construction season for local motorists.  Progress is being made on 126th Street just east and State Road 37, and the roundabout at 136th St. and Cyntheanne Road is now open.

Also, check with INDOT if you are traveling in Marion County….lots of interstates with closures and lane restrictions.

Here is the the latest road construction update, as issued by the City of Fishers, for the work week beginning Monday, August 12th:

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Lindsey Erdody started her career as a reporter for the Indianapolis Business Journal covering Indy’s northern suburbs, so I got to know her when Fishers was a part of her beat.  Lindsey now covers the Indiana Statehouse and politics for IBJ.  This year’s legislative session was her first full session to cover as a reporter.

When Lindsey had the North of 96th beat, we recorded several podcasts about what was happening locally.  I thought it was time for me to reconnect with Lindsey and talk about the General Assembly and some current political issues.

When finishing up a podcast recording session with Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart August 7th, I asked the Chief if there was anything he wanted to add before wrapping up.  He immediately went to gun safety.

Chief Gebhart comes from a family with guns, but says his father taught him strict lessons growing up on the importance of gun safety and security.

“I would just ask my community to please keep their weapons out of their vehicles and lock them up,” Gebhart said.  “Let’s keep our community safe.”

A recent Facebook page post by Fishers Police says seven guns have been stolen from vehicles in the city during a one month.

“If you own a gun, please be a responsible gun owner and secure it in your residence in a proper gun safe,” the Facebook posting says. “Your firearm could end up in the hands of criminals, which is extremely dangerous to our city, our children, and our police officers. If you have any information regarding these thefts, please call 317-595-3300.”

During the podcast, the Chief also talked about how Fishers Police are now working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in running down guns suspected of being used in criminal activity.  Gebhart says both Fishers and Indianapolis have seen success in that program.

You can listen to my entire podcast interview with Chief Gebhart at this link.

39 class members are preparing to enter the 29th year of the Hamilton County Leadership Academy.

Sam Mishelow will serve as Curriculum Dean.  Mishelow, the Chief Strategy Officer for Meyer Najem, is an HCLA graduate and former board member. The dean plays an important role in providing meaningful insight and expertise throughout class days. The dean is an ambassador for the program in the community and will collaborate with the HCLA Executive Director and Board of Directors throughout the year.

“It’s such an exciting time in Hamilton County’s history. The success we have seen and the growth we have experienced has been driven by strong leaders and community champions who have developed a clear vision and worked collaboratively to achieve it,” said John Robbins, Executive Director of HCLA, in a news release. “We’re not here to create leaders, but rather to amplify the impact of our existing leaders by helping them develop their knowledge of the county, connect with other leaders in the community and inspire them to lead and make an impact in their own backyard. HCLA helps to strengthen Hamilton County now and in the future.”

Each year, HCLA selects participants through a highly competitive application process. Class members are selected based on their community involvement, professional achievement, and their passion and desire to make an impact through leading and serving in Hamilton County.

The Leadership Academy holds a class once a month, beginning in August and continuing to the following June – 10 months total.

For more information, visit www.hcla.net

Here is the full listing of the new 2020 HCLA class members:

Continue reading Hamilton County Leadership Academy announces its 2020 class →

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County’s tremendous growth in new construction is reflected in new taxable valuation totals from the County Auditor’s office. The figures reveal the tax base on which property tax rates are calculated will raise more money next year if a tax rate remains the same as this year.

Countywide, the increase in assessed valuation rose more than $1.4 billion to a record $23.5 billion. Carmel experienced the greatest gain: $570 million, but $195 million of that was due to annexations. Arcadia was the only unit to suffer a loss in valuation, dropping from $38.7 million to $37.9 million.

Overall, there is good news for taxpayers because tax rates are expected to remain static in the case of most units of local government. In fact, rates could be reduced slightly and governmental units could still raise that same revenue as this year. (Exceptions would be in the case of any unit where voters have approved a referendum seeking more money.)

Of course, reductions are actually not likely because needs for services are increasing along with the population. Salary increases, added employees, energy costs and insurance costs will likely eat up the new money provided by the expanding tax base.

In any event, the larger tax base is one advantage of living in a growing county. In many areas of the state where taxable values are static or even falling, officials continue to be faced with either increasing taxes or cutting back on public services and facilities.

Property tax rates for 2020 will be calculated in the next few months. Those proposed rates will be published for each unit of government: City, school, township, library and county.

by

Jeff Jellison

Hamilton County Reporter

Day 2 of the county budget hearing didn’t start quite as smoothly as the previous day.

On Tuesday, Hamilton County Council members deadlocked in a 3-3 vote to provide funding for three advocates for the Youth Assistance Program (YAP). The advocates were to be used for a large case load in the communities of Fishers, Westfield and Carmel. The county already provides funding for the YAP programs in Sheridan and the Hamilton Heights area.

Because of Tuesday’s vote, council members on Wednesday could not revisit funding the three YAP advocates, so on Wednesday, Councilman Steve Schwartz unexpectedly made a motion to provide the organization with $240,000 in cash. Schwartz’s motion was seconded by Councilman Jeff Hern. Hern was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.

Schwartz’s motion sparked a debate among council members.

Councilman Rick McKinney questioned the legalities of providing the organization with money they had not specifically requested.

President Brad Beaver conducted a vote on Schwartz’s motion. Fred Glynn and Rick McKinney voted not to support Schwartz’s plan. Council members Amy Massillamany, Brad Beaver, Steve Schwartz, Ken Alexander and Jeff Hern each voted to support the motion.

“It passes. We are going to give them $240K in cash,” said Beaver.

Glynn, who voted on Tuesday not to fund the three advocates, asked council members, “Anybody else we want to divvy money out to?”

Glynn’s question prompted a sharp reply from Beaver. “That’s why we are here.”

Beaver told council members, “This is the day where the tough votes are. Everyone gets all mad at each other, it doesn’t matter. This is what we get paid for.”

Later in the day, council members voted on requests from other nonprofits. Below is a table of organizations, the amount each requested and the amount agreed upon by the council.

Council members also agreed to provide Hamilton County Judicial Services $280,000 to be used for pauper attorney contracts.

A public hearing on the budget will be conducted at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4 at the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center. Council members will vote to adopt the nearly $100 million budget at 9 a.m. on Sept. 16.

Fishers Chief of Police Ed Gebhart talks about his first year running the department, the state of the body cam installations and a number of other subjects in this podcast conversation

August 7th marks the first day of school throughout the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District.  Superintendent Allen Bourff took a few minutes from a very busy day to talk with me about the first day of classes, the unexpected surge this school year in the student population and a number of other subjects.