Comments on Advance Indiana™: Thousands Demonstrate At Black Sunday Protest

I should not I purchased my condo for considerably...

2007-07-16T20:17:00.000-05:00

I should not I purchased my condo for considerably less than $150,000 in 1994.

For what it's worth... in order to afford a that $...

2007-07-16T20:12:00.000-05:00

For what it's worth... in order to afford a that $150,000. condo an individual needs an income in excess of $50,000. a year. At the $290.000. price tag an income of $100,000. a year (or better) is needed. Per capita income for Indianapolis is $21,640. a year.

Gary, I'll leave it to you and others to do the the rest of the math...

Anywhere between $150,000 and $290,000 depending o...

2007-07-16T16:21:00.000-05:00

Anywhere between $150,000 and $290,000 depending on which floor in the building you are located, which direction you are facing (city view or not), whether you have a 1, 2 or 3 bedroom.

"The condos in my building aren't selling for anyt...

2007-07-16T16:08:00.001-05:00

"The condos in my building aren't selling for anything near that amount."

On a personal note, what are they selling for?

It's time for a commuter tax, but if it pushes mor...

2007-07-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

It's time for a commuter tax, but if it pushes more businesses toward Brainard, it'd be counter-productive.

Hopefully you agree that a commuter tax should work both ways _and_ be passed on all 92 counties?

Wowza... I stand ever so slightly corrected.

2007-07-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

Wowza... I stand ever so slightly corrected.

I said the new condos being built in our area coul...

2007-07-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

I said the new condos being built in our area couldn't be bought for less than $400,000. The condos in my building aren't selling for anything near that amount.

Gary, do I recall correctly, didn't you recently c...

2007-07-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

Gary, do I recall correctly, didn't you recently comment that property in your neighborhood couldn't be bought for less than $400,000.00 in today's market?

8:15: "As for non-Marion County residents using ou...

2007-07-16T11:29:00.000-05:00

8:15: "As for non-Marion County residents using our infrastructure: yes, the roads were paid for mostly with gas taxes. But not the sidewalks, police, sewers and parks. It's time for a commuter tax, but if it pushes more businesses toward Brainard, it'd be counter-productive."

Is it possible that Indy employers need surrounding county commuters a lot more than these educated/skilled commuters need the Indy job market… or for that matter any job market in Indiana. If so, perhaps the appropriate entity for your suggested commuter tax should be on the employer—as a cost of doing business for overtaxing Indy’s dilapidated / insufficient infrastructure!? Speaking of dilapidated / insufficient infrastructure... isn’t that 30yr. stretch of GOP leadership proving… ah hell, never mind.

Thanks, Gary.One more reason they ened to get bett...

2007-07-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Gary.

One more reason they ened to get better organized. A four-hour marathon rally on Sunday, mid-day, is bound to stretch out the crowd.

I saw a crowd of 30-40 protestors at 46th/Meridian this morning, holding up traffic. They were holding up southbound traffic because three of the protestors were parked on the west side of Meridian, just south of the intersection, unloading signs, etc., thus making the right lane impassable.

They were unloading those signs from (all late model): a Volvo station wagon, a Volvo SUV, and a Jag. Me putterin by in my cheap ltitle hybrid.

Just sayin'. Kinda hard to muster a lot of sympathy, even tho this tax system is a joke.

$225,000 house, $1000 per year in property taxes. ...

2007-07-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

$225,000 house, $1000 per year in property taxes. No income tax. Tennessee looks better and better all the time!

Anon 8:15, the largest crowd arrived at Monument C...

2007-07-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

Anon 8:15, the largest crowd arrived at Monument Circle between 10:00-11:00. Many people didn't go over to the State House. There were also a lot of people cycling through during the 4-hour period.

I drove by the rally at about 1 p.m. and there wer...

2007-07-16T08:15:00.000-05:00

I drove by the rally at about 1 p.m. and there were not thousands. Maybe 300-400. Still a large crowd, on a hot Sunday afternoon And mostly white. Not that it makes any difference.

The organizers need to run this like a political campaign. A four-hour Sunday mid-day rally, organizationally, is just stupid. And they're confused about who's responsible. So they're firing their guns at everyone. Understandably, but some focus is appropriate. Otherwise all the politicians will just wait them out. They're getting their sea legs, and when they fire up effectively, they'll be powerful.

Taxes are too high, for one major reason: spending is too high. Those same crowds need to be marching on school board meetings...that's where the raises are coming. It's shameful.

The city, over the last two years, has enacted some pretty tough spending cuts. Not enough, but they've worked hard at it. They saw this coming, altho I think they were surprised at the increases. I shudder to think what the increases would've been without those cuts.

Cut Spending
Elimnnate township government.
Insist schools spend less on Admin.
Make schools justify EVERY debt

As for non-Marion County residents using our infrastructure: yes, the roads were paid for mostly with gas taxes. But not the sidewalks, police, sewers and parks. It's time for a commuter tax, but if it pushes more businesses toward Brainard, it'd be counter-productive.

I own a two bedroom condo in Broad Ripple south of...

2007-07-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

I own a two bedroom condo in Broad Ripple south of the Art League. $8000. I can no longer afford it.

How DID Orentlicher get his assessment reduced?

The taxes on my home in Lockerbie went from $700 t...

2007-07-16T07:03:00.000-05:00

The taxes on my home in Lockerbie went from $700 to $2,400 after the reassessment 4 years ago. They have gone up to over $4,000 after this reassessment. It is the same 2 bedroom, flat condo I purchased in 1994.

>>I can tell you from personal observation there w...

2007-07-16T06:56:00.000-05:00

>>I can tell you from personal observation there were a lot of gays and lesbians there protesting. Many of these people were pioneers in redeveloping the older, inner city neighborhoods.<<

That makes a certain amount of sense, financially, I think. The older neighborhoods tended to have properties that were underassessed under the old system. If those houses are now in good neighborhoods (thanks in no small part to the efforts of these gay pioneers) then the market value of the properties, and therefore the assessed value under the new system, would be much higher and the tax impact dramatic.

"Anonymous said... Unfortunately, those in attenda...

2007-07-16T05:53:00.000-05:00

"Anonymous said...
Unfortunately, those in attendance are the ones most able to pay the tax increase. All white, upper middle class from the trendy neighborhoods"

You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to make this a race issue. This has nothing to do with race, status, of where you live.
NO ONE kept blacks, or hispanics, away from the rally but themselves!
There were 15,000+ in attendance for black expo, but less than 100 attended the rally to save their homes. WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?
Also, I don't believe that they would have been condemned to hell for missing church one day, in order to attend the rally.
I am not rich, or even close to it and I live on the east side.
I say that if your not willing to do anything to help the situation. THEN SHUT UP, AND STOP STIRRING UP TROUBLE.
Also the CCC is voting on giving themselves a raise today at 4:00pm and an income tax increase at 5:30pm today at the CC building Rm 260.
What will the excuse be today when they don't attend?

Thanks for shedding light on the Property tax revo...

2007-07-15T20:05:00.000-05:00

Thanks for shedding light on the
Property tax revolution.

I live in Fort Wayne, In and we are
going through the same thing. Yet,
there is no out-cry yet. TAX & SPEND.

With a little research, I found our
property tax card.. which states we have 4 fireplaces. Now we have only 2, but are being taxed over $4,300.00 because they think we have 4 fireplaces. There's more
errors as well on how our property like square footage and acerage that is incorrect.

I think what I'm going to do is get ahold of my
Assessor and ask her to hire me so
I can help their office.

Bobett Kelley
Fort Wayne

Rep. Orentlicher has provided some pretty specific...

2007-07-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Rep. Orentlicher has provided some pretty specific proposals he would like to see implemented. You can view them by going to this web address: http://www.in.gov:80/legislative/house_democrats/repsites/r86/ore_issue_propertytaxes.html

The coverage on TV showed the diversity much bette...

2007-07-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

The coverage on TV showed the diversity much better than the photos.
All races were present. Several African Americans spoke out against the taxation. One in particular was a woman who stated that she was 67 and was afraid of retirement. She stated that if she were to retire she couldn’t pay her taxes. Another was a small Philippine Lady who stated that she couldn’t pay the taxes because of limited income. Another African American woman asked that we contact our representatives. An African American man spoke his mind and was interviewed by a TV station. His interview was reported. Gary is right about the Gay and Lesbian community being out in force. This taxation is effecting everyone across Indiana, not just the white democrat and republicans of privilege. The only difference between Indy and the rest of the state is that we are going to get a second slap across the face when the CCC approves Peterson’s income tax increase.

Maybe someone can explain something to me, what do...

2007-07-15T16:51:00.000-05:00

Maybe someone can explain something to me, what does it matter what the racial mix of the crowd was?

That group was a diverse as you can get and definitely there were both Ds and Rs there speaking the same language!

Obviously, the anons who want to poke holes at racial diversity on this subject are doing someones dirty work. Viva la revolution, baby!

anonymous 11:31 - Local Income taxes are withheld ...

2007-07-15T15:34:00.000-05:00

anonymous 11:31 - Local Income taxes are withheld based on your county of residence. If you county doesn't have a tax, and you work in Marion county, then yes - you would pay. But I doubt there are any counties with no tax rate anymore.

Maybe a lot of Black folks didn't show because the...

2007-07-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

Maybe a lot of Black folks didn't show because they've got nothing left for the government to take? :-)

I would agree there was an absence of very many Af...

2007-07-15T14:52:00.000-05:00

I would agree there was an absence of very many African-Americans at the protest to day. And yes, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz wasn't the only African-American there today. Having said that, the crowd was very diverse in the sense that it drew from a culturally diverse group. There was a fair mix of other minority groups there. Interestingly, I can tell you from personal observation there were a lot of gays and lesbians there protesting. Many of these people were pioneers in redeveloping the older, inner city neighborhoods. Others followed in their path. The white population was very diverse. I saw conservative, middle class Republicans, well-educated, upscale liberal Democrats and blue collar workers among the crowd. I think the Star's Tim Evans had it right yeterday in commenting about the strange bedfellows coming together on this issue. I think everyone would agree Rep. David Orentlicher is a liberal Democrat. He was there as a protestor like everyone else. He believes the property tax system we have now is unfair and needs a major overhaul.

Indyernie, We only have AI and the Star's on line ...

2007-07-15T14:11:00.000-05:00

Indyernie, We only have AI and the Star's on line photos to go by. The only speakers shown on AI were white. If the speakers were that diverse that diversity should have been shown.
1:30's post makes my concern that those organizing the protest, don't seem to understand how to reach out to other communities, including the minority community. And holding rallies at church time on Sundays is not a good way to have a racially undiverse crowd.