The Indianapolis City-County Council Monday night passed a more than billion dollar budget. It included money for all the usual stuff, police, fire, streets, sewer, etc. It also spends $2 million more this year than last year. What’s interesting though is how the budget was paid for. The city replaced a lot of one time revenues with a permanent source of cash, yours.

There were budget “cuts” but not the way you think. For example, the Mayor’s office “cut” 10 percent but it was in the form of not filling two vacant positions, the positions weren’t eliminated, they just didn’t fund them. In addition, the Department of Public Works didn’t really cut, but delayed purchases until next year.

Some other ways the city “cut” the budget was to eliminate interagency billing of services. And that $50 million dollar cut in property taxes? Well, $43 million of it was going to happen anyway because the city has paid off its child welfare debt and reached a tax settlement with United Airlines.

Smoke and mirrors? Not quite but more like fog and reflective surfaces. The only thing that was sure about this budget was that it spends more and takes more of your money. And when you ask the Council about the budget, they will tell you “it was the best they could do.”

I’m sure it was.

At last Sunday’s tax forum at Light of the World Church we interviewed Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and his Republican challenger Greg Ballard. Both candidates were asked about taxes, crime and economic development. You can hear both their responses here.

After talking to both men, I’ve concluded that their main opponents aren’t each other, but themselves. For the incumbent, he has to prove that after eight years of his leadership, the city is on the right track and voters should entrust him with another four. This is going to be pretty difficult with a climate that is filled with rising crime, taxes, home foreclosures and a decreasing quality of life. However, the Mayor’s best friend is voter apathy. If not enough people care and stay home, he cruises to victory.

For Ballard, it is not enough to say Peterson is a bad mayor, but why he would be a good mayor. He needs to get a lot more aggressive and start appealing to the masses. Speaking to small groups off the radar screen of the mainstream press is one thing, but now he needs to get ready for prime time. However, for Ballard, his best friend is voter anger. If he can tap into that anger by getting more aggressive with the mass appeal and asking if voters are better off than they were four years ago, he can give the incumbent a run for his money.

If this were any other election, and if either man had another opponent, this race would be over. However in this climate with taxes, crime and other news it will be the events that drive this campaign and not the candidates. And for each candidate to truly take advantage of those events, they will have to beat their biggest hurdles, themselves.

When I read about this on some local blogs, I didn’t believe it at first. Frugal Hoosiers and Indy Undercover reported the city of Indianapolis spent thousands of dollars on solar-powered trash cans.

According to the company that makes the trash cans, it’s a bargain because the cans don’t have to be emptied as often because they compact the trash. It says the cans pay for themselves over the course of their lifetime.

I’m not saying this is a bad idea, per se. It’s a good idea if the city was in good financial shape. However, in these tough times and rising property and income taxes, I don’t know if this is the best use of the taxpayer’s money.

And since it’s solar-powered, I wonder if these things will work in the winter when we don’t have as much sunshine.

Editor’s Note: picture from FrugalHoosiers.com

Marion County city officials want to know what you think about the government they’re running. If you click here, you can go to the city’s website and fill out a survey and let them know what you think is important. This will help them craft the budget. I personally think you should do it. This is your government and you need to make sure they hear your voice.

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson says he doesn’t expect an easy road to re-election. Peterson responded to a Marion County Republican party poll which said 64 percent of voters think the County is going in the wrong direction and 53 percent want someone other than Peterson as Mayor.

Peterson says he doesn’t take re-election for granted and that he’s out everyday talking to voters. He says he gets a good reception from the public. He pointed to city budget cuts and his efforts to reduce city and county property tax collections by $50 million.

The Mayor also said he doesn’t agree that 64 percent of voters think the county is headed the wrong way, however he does see voter anger. He says no one could look at Indianapolis and not say something wrong however most of those concerns are limited to crime and taxes, which he says the city is addressing.

When it comes to the controversy surrounding the residency of City-County Council Member Patrice Abdullah, the Mayor would not go into details, but he did say his staff was looking into the matter to find out what the facts are and what impact the news will have.