May 2, 2013
IBJ StaffJason Dudich is already familiar with the financial workings of the city. He was Ballard's budget director and deputy
controller from February 2008 to August 2010.
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April 10, 2013
Kathleen McLaughlinThe city will lose its controller a few months before the 2014 budget is due to be presented to the City-County Council.
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April 8, 2013
Kathleen McLaughlinIndianapolis leaders made a pact to cut 5 percent from the already-adopted 2013 budget, but the reality might prove too difficult
to stomach.
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February 9, 2013
Legislator says the recent tax increases aren't being used for the purpose intended when such increases were authorized in
2009.
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February 9, 2013
Kathleen McLaughlinMayor Greg Ballard is nationally recognized as a rigorous charter authorizer, picky about which schools open and willing to
shut down the under-performers. But there is a cost to the city’s education work and Ballard may have to consider how
much of it can be supported by the city’s maxed-out general fund alone.
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January 28, 2013
IBJ StaffThe Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night approved tax hikes to admissions to downtown events and on rental cars.
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January 12, 2013
The merit raises for non-union employees come as the city tries to trim expenses by 5 percent.
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January 8, 2013
Scott OlsonIndianapolis is poised to raise its tax on car rentals, drawing the ire of the auto-rental industry. Though local politicians
routinely say such taxes hurt only visitors, more than half of car rentals are actually local, industry figures show.
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January 7, 2013
Kathleen McLaughlinIndianapolis City-County Council leaders have agreed to increase visitor and entertainment taxes to avoid what one councilor
called a drastic reduction in services.
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December 4, 2012
J.K. WallAfter saying in August he would revoke raises for police officers and firefighters, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has agreed
in principal to a new contract that would delay a 3 percent salary hike by six months.
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October 26, 2012
Kathleen McLaughlinMayor Greg Ballard plans to sign a $1 billion budget plan approved by the Indianapolis City-County Council earlier this month,
but only after using his line-item veto powers to kill major portions of it.
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October 15, 2012
Kathleen McLaughlinThe Indianapolis City-County Council approved a budget Monday night that relies on a $15 million payment from a tax-exempt
entity, likely setting the stage for a legal battle, plus difficult negotiations with Mayor Greg Ballard.
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October 12, 2012
IBJ StaffThe plan—opposed by Republican Mayor Greg Ballard and members of the CIB—now advances to the City-County Council.
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September 29, 2012
Kathleen McLaughlinEfficiency expert Manny Mendez, who has saved the city $4.9 million since 2008 through Six Sigma practices, is now scouring
government operations in search of $15 million more.
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August 28, 2012
IBJ StaffA proposal that would expand a downtown tax-increment financing district to the northeast and northwest was approved Monday
by the City-County Council's Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee.
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August 18, 2012
Mayor proposes shifting $10 million out of downtown district to help make up for $65 million general-fund shortfall.
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July 31, 2012
Kathleen McLaughlinIndianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s staff received a collective 18-percent raise this spring following the hiring of a
new deputy for education with an annual salary of $120,000.
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July 28, 2012
Kathleen McLaughlinPublic safety and criminal justice are the only places left in the city-county budgets to look for ways to close a $27 million
spending gap for 2013. Sheriff, police, fire and court budgets account for 85 percent of the $569 million general fund.
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February 11, 2012
Cory SchoutenBrian Mahern, a Democrat on the City-County Council, plans to propose a study commission to examine the effectiveness of TIF
districts, how property tax caps will affect them, and ways to increase transparency for the complicated financing vehicles.
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August 30, 2011
Francesca JaroszOfficials from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department say they are concerned that a $10 million gap in this year’s
budget will hurt their ability to pay critical bills.
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August 19, 2011
Scott OlsonIn the quarter ended June 30, the city's share of revenue from parking meters totaled $498,273 compared with $108,265 in the
same time frame of 2010, a 360-percent increase.
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August 11, 2011
Francesca JaroszIndianapolis will shed 200 positions next year to help cut $20 million from non-public safety agencies.
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August 10, 2011
Scott OlsonThe money would be used as a safeguard to help Indianapolis maintain its AAA credit ratings. But Democrat mayoral challenger
Melina Kennedy is criticizing the move.
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July 22, 2011
Francesca JaroszDemocratic mayoral candidate Melina Kennedy unveiled a proposal Friday to set aside $150 million in proceeds from the sale
of the city's water and sewer utilities to fund early education, crime prevention and job training.
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June 6, 2011
Indianapolis' Community Crime Prevention Board awarded a total of $1.7 million in grants, down from $4 million last year,
due to the city budget crunch.
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Good ole' Obamacare. Thanks liberals and those who didn't bother to vote.
Yes. Blame those who were too lazy to go vote Obama out and those who voted him in again. That's my take on it. I know folks won't get it on the left. OK. Start berating me now!
Serioulsy, people are AGINST this project? Most communities would be salivating over a project like this. You'd rather have an empty eye-sore gas station and shacks posing as apartments? This project is exactly what BR needs. BUILD IT MR MAYOR. And yes, I am a BR resident, and have been for 20 years.
As a St. Vincent employee of over 20 years, I am saddened and disheartened by this announcement. Unfortunately, as the healthcare "industry" continues on this political and corporate path, all that St. Vincent Hospital has stood for spiritually for its employees and this community is being sucked dry. I know it truly has no choice. It is not just Obamacare or just competition or just any single thing. This trend started long before I was even born when the government became involved in healthcare and it became an "industry." I grieve for those who will lose their jobs, one of whom may be me, but I also grieve for this hospital which I have served for over 20 years. May God give us and it the grace to withstand the future of healthcare.
Why do people constantly harp on this issue and act ignorant about what a city population measures? A city's population is the city's population. There is no argument or debate about it. If you want to measure the density of a city--measure it. If you want to measure the size of a metropolitan area, then measure the metropolitan population. City boundaries cover different sized areas--and they always have (though the disparity has probably increased since about 1900 or so when more cities began annexing their surrounding communities). For example, San Francisco only covers 49 square miles while Houston cover nearly 600 square miles. No one argues about the population rankings of either city even though they clearly cover extremely different sized areas. Indianapolis is the 13 largest city by population in the U.S. That is a fact. While the population of a metropolitan area may give you a better sense of how large a community is, as noted, even metro areas can vary widely in the size of geographic area they cover--so that is not a perfect comparison either.