Chicago is doing it. Why shouldn't Carmel? Carmel voters faced with no realistic chance of defeating its mayor and council candidates effectively re-elected in this year's primary in the one-party city learn their taxes are going up and salaries for key officials are being hiked. A $200,000 home will be hit with an average $60 increase under a property tax increase approved by the council and mayor as part of next year's budget. Mayor Jim Brainard, the city's clerk-treasurer and council members will each receive 3% pay raises.
The council's city attorney, who walked off the job just weeks ago after learning he would have to attend a council meeting instead of getting time off from work to help his daughter move into college, is getting a whopping raise from $121,429 to $145,917. So Brainard not only allowed the insubordinate employee to come back to work after he quit in a huff, he gets a $24,000 pay raise to boot. He must have some real good dirt on the mayor. Brainard's spokesperson, Nancy Heck, will also get a big pay bump. Her salary is being increased from $105,105 to $116,619. Heck will also get to hire a new project manager to work under her who will make $71,500 a year.
UPDATE: Ditto the City of Fishers. Property tax rates are going up, and there will be across-the-board pay raises for city employees. The mayor's $125,000 a year salary will remain unchanged.
11 comments:
Chicago, Indianapolis, Carmel... yes, the list is almost endless where in any governmental branch individuals who could never make it in the private markets are rewarded privilege, prestige, power and income they'd hardly ever command in the remaining shreds of the American free market. Moreover, charlatans like Greg Ballard preach that high salaries must be paid to attract the "talent" to do the jobs the political positions require. Any qualified HR specialist knows this is not true.
Carmel, like Indianapolis, is run by a small coterie of perpetual political class clowns comprised of the incumbents, the wannabes, and the corrupt attorneys who run it all. With a voter pool so clueless as to what is actually occurring and how they are being used so thoroughly... is there any hope?
Fifty years of Indy parking meter chains to ACS, mostly unused bicycle lanes that clog traffic, hideous and cheap urban millennial housing, Vision Fleet, Blue Indy, massive public debt that threatens ever more tax hikes.. IT'S STILL THERE! Carmel is burdened with it's copy-cat arts and design district populated by many empty structures and funded with smoke and mirrors and deception the Carmel Council allowed to occur. And the Councilors of both cities that refused to effectively step up to the plate for the people to stop lawless emperor mayors have the gall to use social media to proclaim how great they are in the need for more police, how they support the fire departments, how they support the "need for 150 more" police officers, how American red/white/blue caring they are.... lies, all lies. And they keep telling the same lie over and over and an electorate unable to discern phony from true returns them to their seats election after election.
Our problem is the public treasury has become "easy money."
Anon 7:43 - Bicycle lanes clog traffic? Uhhh, no. The average Indy-tard's inability to pull himself out of the 1970s clogs traffic. Everywhere bicycle lanes have been put in around the world is more livable and traffic flows better because people other places are smart enough to either (a) stop droving or (b) find alternative routes. There's so much data available on this it's laughable that you would say that. You are your own worst enemy. It's wake up time.
Anon 9:10: As someone who's cycle commuted for years, those glorified paint projects do clog traffic due to poor & overwrought design. It's called reading- people need to read the driver's manual; which in Indiana like most states, makes all roads except interstates available to bike travel / traffic. Clogged traffic is the result of poor design- not bikes.
Cyclists are smart enough to navigate roads upon which they're legally permitted without more federal dollars in poorly designed paint projects. We don't need limited zones in which to travel already legal roads & planning one's route to include alternative routes is what everyone does; whether driving a car or riding a bike, matters of their own choosing.
Abusing the public purse is corrupt; whether it's for my preferred mode of travel or that of another.
There's no place like Home Place! Keep your stinking paws off me you damn dirty crony statist apes. Apes is apropos as Anon 743 and Gary's update pointed out, these idiots ape each other on the same road to government bankruptcy and private enrichment.
Woe to the longtime homeowners of Carmel. While their property taxes increase the newbies, with homes valued over $345,000, will see no increase in their property taxes since they are already at the 1% Indiana State cap. Not to get too comfortable, though. Debt agreements utilized to secure financing are now tied to property taxes under a 'special benefits tax' which specifies that property owners are responsible for bond debt acquired by the Carmel Redevelopment Commission. If the created TIF districts do not generate enough income to pay bond obligations the 1% limit will be lifted. Will it be a case of build it and they will come or let us sell it and move on?
Still Carmel may be better off than Terre Haute depending upon the outcome of the Powerdyne/Highland fiasco. It is no fun when a party to a lawsuit asks the court to put your city in receivership.
Anon 9:10, as a cyclist, I'd love to support things that make biking in the city easier. Most of the city's bike lanes though are incredibly dangerous and serious bicycle consumers eschew them. As far as your assertion that removal of traffic lanes to create bike lines not clogging traffic, I can't believe you're serious. Of course, doing that does clogs traffic. In fact, that is intentional. (There is a term for it I can't remember offhand.) You clog the streets with cars so people will supposedly abandon their cars for alternative transportation. Of course that doesn't actually work.
If you don't think removal of traffic lanes for bike lanes slows traffic, I'd invite you to spend some time driving down Broad Ripple Avenue where they have removed two traffic lanes for bike lanes, that are rarely used. It will take quite awhile to traverse Broad Ripple Avenue though so be prepared to be stuck in traffic.
Paul, of course Anon 9:10 cannot be serious. You, Paul, are totally correct. I believe the term you might have been looking for is "traffic calming"... which is another example of liberal bureaucratic nonsense where the name for the action is 180 degrees opposite of the actual effect. Anon 7:43 here, btw.
A significant majority of Carmel voters are low information voters. They are getting what they deserve a tax increase. As a member of the City Council and 2011 Mayoral Candidate they doubted everything I said about the City's financial position and believed the lies of Mayor Brainard and his high paid cronies. This is the first of many more tax increases for Carmelites. Just wait until he can't pay the refinanced bonds for TIF projects. A Special Benefits Tax will kick automatically on all property holders including businesses. How could anyone have believed that you could spend the way Brainard did without tax increases is amazing.
Same thing is coming to Westfield. Andy Crook hasn't found a government spending project he doesn't like. I tend to agree with Councilor Accetturo - I'm finding a lot of voters up here are low info voters also. Many of which are refugees out of Indy.
All the bike lanes and laws to protect cyclists will be of no matter when they are scraping them off the street with a shovel. Its crazy trying to drive a car in Indy let alone a stupid bike.
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