I was going to write something long and deep and involved over the weekend about Marion County property taxes. But then I got involved in helping a friend move, cleaning up our own house, trying to keep the lawn from drying out, and watching too much Doctor Who. You know — life kind of got in the way.
The upshot of what I was going to write is this:
– I know people who are legitimately suffering because of the tax increases.
– But on the other hand, I keep reading about people with expensive homes in fancy neighborhoods who are bitching about their taxes going up. My heart bleeds. Not. You bought a million dollar home and now you can’t pay the taxes? WTF?
– I would like to know how many of the people currently bitching about their taxes doubling or tripling voted Democrat in the last few elections. May I say that you did this to yourselves?
– I would also like to know when the people in this county are going to realize that the city can’t go on giving 10-year tax abatement incentives to businesses to locate here, and issue billions of dollars worth of bonds to fund a football stadium and convention center expansion, without having to raise taxes (not just property taxes, the county income tax is slated to take a sharp rise, too) to pay for them.
The fact is that the city and the state both need to rein in their spending and stop blowing money on things that are not deemed absolutely necessary. And stop whoring us out to bring new business here. The way to attract new business is to make the city a nice (and safe) place to live and work and then keep it that way, not to hand out tax abatements.
Like I told my mother last night, I don’t believe in handing out the money I earned by the sweat of my brow for projects and programs I don’t agree with. And by that I mean all of the public welfare entitlement bullshit — both corporate and personal — that’s grown up since the 1930’s and is now threatening to put us all on the dole because it takes so much of our income to support.
Bottom line: Anyone who votes for an incumbent in the upcoming city elections is a damn fool. Clear the bastards out and start over, starting with his assholishness the mayor and their brownnosednesses the overpaid, underworked, and incompetent City-County Council.
And if Mitch decides to call a special session of the Legislature, he’d better be sure to insist that cutting spending is as much or more important than cutting taxes. Or his ass can go out the door next year, too.
2 Replies to “And in the real world…”
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Sorry, gotta disagree with you here, brother. A certain relation of mine lives in a million $$ house near 86th and Ditch. And her taxes went to $23,000 a year. An acquaintance from many years ago in the advertising business has a house in the Lawrence Township area of Geist. Big, $2 million house. Call him a swine if you like, hate the rich if you like, but his tax bill went to $49,000 a year.
Most robbers that bold use a gun.
There is no way to justify these kinds of bills. All those folks who moved downtown to revitalize the downtown are now being soaked. And now ol’ Bart is “threatening” to make budget cuts.
Well, glory be. Don’t just threaten, Bart. START CUTTING!
Township government is a holdover from the 1970s when the white suburbs demanded cover for keeping blacks out of the suburban schools. Townships have no place in this city! Get them outta here. And the school budget needs one central board for the whole county, so we can stop building $14 million swimming pools at North Central and domed stadiums at Warren Central. Cut taxes, cut spending, and stop the growth of government. Please, somebody – Bart, Ballard or anybody else, grow the balls to do it.
If it helps, I wasn’t thinking about the kind of folks you’re talking about. I was thinking about young professional couples buying McMansions they can’t really afford on their parents’ dime with balloon mortgages and a hope that they can flip the house before the balloon goes up.
And you’re right about the rest of it. I commented yesterday on Indy Undercover (and told you and Jim at dinner) that I’d vote for Ballard on the principle that any Republican is better than Bart, but from what I’ve seen so far I’ll be holding my nose to do it. I’ll be damned if I’ll give him one thin dime till he starts getting out there campaigning and telling us why he’d be better than Bart.