Comments on Advance Indiana™: Star Backs Ballard's Regional Tax To Fund Public Transportation

Unigov: "Impact taxes ignore the fact that t...

2010-10-26T07:16:42.228-05:00

Unigov:

"Impact taxes ignore the fact that these knobs who commute downtown to Noblesville are already paying gas taxes out the ying tang."

They may be paying gas taxes "out the yin tang"---whatever that is--or they may not be - depending on the MPG their car gets. Whatever amount they are paying, overall it's only about half of what it costs.

You could increase the gas tax to actually pay the costs of the roads - or you can use impact fees to address the sprawl issue... which is at the heart of a lot of problems - including transportation.

I agree with this completely: "If it were up...

2010-10-25T22:01:42.663-05:00

I agree with this completely:

"If it were up to me, I'd say screw the people that want to commute from Carmel to a job Downtown or in Greenwood. They can sit in gridlocked bumper-bumper traffic as far as I'm concerned."

Impact taxes ignore the fact that these knobs who commute downtown to Noblesville are already paying gas taxes out the ying tang.

Tax money should be used to help the poor. Indy does the opposite. Irsay gets a new stadium but poor people have to deal with the worst bus service in the country...and if an enterprising poor person tries to run a taxi they get busted by the Taxi Mob.

As to the matter of highways, I think they should ...

2010-10-25T16:57:55.129-05:00

As to the matter of highways, I think they should actually remove lanes. Make I-65, I-69 and I-465 2-lanes again as repairs become necessary. Quit adding more lanes - this only adds more recurring cost and thus tax burden in addition to the cost of adding them in the first place.

People WILL modify their behavior and *gasp* even carpool if driving and getting stuck in miles of traffic backup is unacceptable to them.

The more capacity the highways have, the farther out people will move. And that results in still more highway lanes to be built, and people again move farther out.

There are plenty of lanes for actual 'interstate' traffic, just not for the peak commuting hours.

Listen all you people come gather round Gotta get...

2010-10-25T16:49:19.254-05:00

Listen all you people come gather round
Gotta get me a game plan gotta shake you to the ground.
Just give me what I know is mine
People do you hear me just give me the sign
It ain't much I'm asking if you want the truth
Here's to the future for the dreams of youth
I want it all (give it all) I want it all I want it all and I want
It now
I want it all (yes I want it all) I want it all (hey)
I want it all and I want it now

Tell me, is Ballard a Queen fan?

If you actually read the proposal, you will see th...

2010-10-25T12:53:40.719-05:00

If you actually read the proposal, you will see that the vast majority of the money is going towards...roads.

BTW: Roads are a socialist plot. They don't begin to pay for themselves in dedicated taxes and fees - dedicated money only pays about 1/2 of the cost.

Also, if you are paying attention to the issues you understand that Indianapolis Metro area isn't growing in housholds much- but it's expanding outward. It's that expansion outward that's driving the traffic.

If it were up to me, I'd say screw the people that want to commute from Carmel to a job Downtown or in Greenwood. They can sit in gridlocked bumper-bumper traffic as far as I'm concerned.

Again, I'd suggest that we tax the folks who are building and buying new homes and businesses in what were once cornfields - an impact fee. They are the ones who are increasing the vehicle miles.

There is no sense in spending tax money to build a...

2010-10-25T12:22:12.970-05:00

There is no sense in spending tax money to build a rail system to help white people who moved to Fishers to get away from black people. Almost all the people in Fishers own cars and if they chose to move 18 miles from downtown, that's there problem. They could move into town if they wanted.

The buses would be funded if the City hadn't given all its money over to sports and conventions.

I could not disagree more with "James" - I live close to where I work, I made a rational life choice, and those that didn't can suffer their consequences.

This is at least a tax increase argument the Mayor...

2010-10-25T11:47:11.153-05:00

This is at least a tax increase argument the Mayor could make a decent argument about. The problem is he has no credibility given his history of supporting tax and fee increases, which now total over 100. Also he has no credibility on the spending side either - the $86 million guaranteed loan for a developer who couldn't get financing to develop a project and the behind the scenes deal to send property taxes to the Pacers are but two of the latest examples o fthat.

Nowhere is it ever considered that the riders actu...

2010-10-25T11:31:21.173-05:00

Nowhere is it ever considered that the riders actually pay for it. That's the obscenity. Always looking to skin somebody else. This is emblematic of everything that is wrong with this country.

If this tax increase passes in my area, I am done ...

2010-10-25T10:58:51.826-05:00

If this tax increase passes in my area, I am done helping out this city, trying to make it a better place. My $100-$200 a year in charity giving ceases immediately. My spending money at local businesses ceases immediately. With this tax, and demands for taxes for other things, I won't be able to afford to give to charity, eat out at all, etc.. This city is becoming nothing but a socialist cesspool. This transit plan is about making a select few extremely wealthy, providing jobs for maybe 1,000 middle to upper middle class construction workers, and bailing out rich folks in Hamilton County, without making the rich folks foot the bill.

Suburban taxpayers in Chicago have forked over bil...

2010-10-25T10:10:51.090-05:00

Suburban taxpayers in Chicago have forked over billions to fund regional public transportation projects. That has only led to more tolled roads and a mass transit system that is always teetering on bankruptcy and looking for a state bailout. They've invested billions in bringing light rail to the suburbs in Chicago but they still keep building more highways and widening the lanes of existing highways. Toll fares and mass transit fares keep going up; the politicians and their buddies keep lining their pockets with all of the contracts, high-paying jobs, legal work, etc, that the regional transportation authorities generate.

So you pay for Indy regardless of whether you live...

2010-10-25T10:02:59.291-05:00

So you pay for Indy regardless of whether you live in it. So much for "voting with your feet."

Nobody likes to raise taxes more than a Republican.

As for regional transportation, Indy has spent the last two decades tearing up train tracks and paving them over with bike trails. You can still see the streetcar tracks trying to peek through the asphalt on College Avenue.

Indy used to have a lovely streetcar and interurban system. Indy threw away its chance to be a transportation hub, and it destroyed wonderful installed infrastructure.

Search "Indianapolis Traction Terminal" in Google Images.

Nobody should have to pay to dig Indy out of the hole it dug for itself.

If there is a transportation board, keep it and all its members far from Indy. No Indy resident should be allowed to serve on it, and no Indy person or corporation should have access to its budget.

I'm perhaps being a bit extreme, but if Indy is advocating something, you can bet that it's trying to scam the rest of the state.

2010-10-25T07:46:33.881-05:00

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I get it that the way to reduce taxes is to start ...

2010-10-25T07:42:21.563-05:00

I get it that the way to reduce taxes is to start by saying "No" to new taxes.

And yet I believe that we need some regional taxing authority if we are going to address the transportation problem - particularly mass transit.
We also have to address land-use on a regional scale.

Rather than a regional tax, an environmental impact fee on new "greenfield" development to help pay for transportation would put the responsibility on the people who are driving the costs of transportation up - and promote redevelopment of existing land.

Any new taxes would have to be combined with restraint in other areas - like multi-million dollar gifts to billionaires.