Once again we start the week with little things (or not so little in some cases) that are worth paying attention to…

Township Tales

• In it’s never-ending to quest to justify consolidation, the Washington Township Board voted itself a 69-percent pay raise. Their salary went from $2200 annually to $3800.   The nice thing about that is that the township’s budget went from $20 million to $1.6 million after consolidating the fire department with IFD.  So since they have less work to do, they felt a pay raise was in order. The Board meets later this week.

My dear friend Abdul has lost his objectivity.

That’s not to say we weren’t both partisans to start with, but something strange happens when you become a loyalist: You can’t see the forest for the trees.

The biggest problem for loyalists — and they exist a-plenty on both sides of the aisle — is that they lose sight of how real people think about and view politics.

Case in point: Greg Ballard’s $12-per-person-tax-refund-in-bad-times gimmick.

Insiders have already made up their minds how they feel about it, and we’ll see what happens when Ballard actually has to answer questions on Monday.

But to Joe Q. Indy, this proposal means nothing. First of all, they released it late on a Friday, the worst day and time to put out a story you want to have big traction. Second, they released it three days before it’s going to be introduced to the Council. Way to give yourself room for repeat coverage. Finally, it’s symbolic, not substantive, like everything Ballard has done this year.

Here’s my guess: If you took a poll of average folks and asked them to name the Mayor of Indianapolis, a good chunk would have trouble doing that. I’d venture to guess that even more of them would have trouble naming a single thing he’s done.

That’s not entirely Ballard’s fault. He’s kinda dim. We all know that. But he’s got some smart people around him, and some of the not-so-smart ones are leaving. Problem is, a lot of them have no experience running an administration, and the ones who came from yesteryear are more interested in earmarking contracts for themselves than helping Ballard define his leadership style and goals.

Back to the tax cut proposal.

Beyond the fact that it has little effect on anyone’s life, it’s also bad economic policy, given that we have no idea what’s going to happen over the next three years.

But Ballard’s people seem to think he can get by with symbols and gimmicks. Ya know, national Republicans thought the same thing this year, and they wound up losing big — and losing the edge on key issues like…taxes!

Symbolic gimmicks are great if they connect with their audience.

Unfortunately, I see a city with crumbling infrastructure, rising crime, fewer services, assets on the chopping block and no long-term vision. I’m sorry, but you can keep my $12 if it means we go back to building the world-class city we were becoming.

Finally, a word of advice to Abdul and all the other loyalists out there: Step back and take a hard look at what’s actually going on. Talk to your neighbors. Don’t try to persuade them. Just talk to them. You’ll hear something very different than what the partisan voices in your head are telling you. Trust me. Ballard wouldn’t be the first politician — I can think of a couple this cycle — sunk by navel-gazing and bunker mentality.

Both friend and foe alike are talking about Mayor Greg Ballard’s proposed reduction in the County Option Income Tax from 1.65 to 1.62 percent; an $18 million savings for the taxpayers over the next three years.

Friends say it is a misguided public relations stunt.  Foes are taking credit for something they had nothing to do with nor fully understand.

What it is, is giving people back their hard-earned money.

If friends want to complain about something, I suggest they direct their attention towards the Marion County Courts and how they took their portion of the public safety/COIT increase and instead of creating an additional criminal court to alleviate jail overcrowding, the Courts instead created an additional family court. The Courts tackled the jail overcrowding issue through better case management and moving defendants through the chute quicker.

Before foes take credit for something, they should try to understand how the process works.  The city could not have adjusted the COIT rate understate law once it was set.  However, this is about the levy.  When the tax increase originally passed, the legislature had not yet picked up the pre-1977 pensions and child welfare levies.  Now they have.  With a smaller levy, there can be a smaller rate.  In addition, as reported this morning, the state gave counties the authority to reduce their tax rates by 0.03.

Now is a $12 savings per taxpayer a lot?  Not really, eventhough I argue the number is bigger because not every person in Marion County pays income taxes.  But that small number sends a big message.  The message that the Ballard administration is going to be fiscally responsible and return to the taxpayers (the people who pay the bills) as much of their money as possible.

And if my Democratic friends in 2011 are going to run on a platform of more taxes so there can be more spending all I can wonder is what will be Ballard’s big achievements during his second term?

UPDATE: So, Ballard’s big, impressive tax cut would net the average Indy worker $12 more per year. Heck, I think Jill Long Thompson’s goofy gas sales tax gimmick was more impressive than that. Try again, sir. This looks like a silly PR stunt, and I can’t wait until the Q&A after your presser.

EARLIER: This oughta be good: Mayor Greg Ballard is going to hold a press conference on Monday where he actually talks about fiscal policy.

I hope no one asks him a complicated question.

Ballard is rallying the troops to call for a slight reduction in the county option income tax that would return $5.7 million per year to taxpayers.

Last year’s income tax increase meant an extra $90 million that was supposed to go toward public safety pensions and 100 more officers, a promise Ballard has failed to keep.

The Republicans no doubt think they have a great issue here because no one will want to oppose a tax reduction.

Here’s what I say: Let Ballard have it. And then smack him around every single time he comes back asking for more, more, more. Or when he goes to sell off city assets or cut city services.

Democrats get to take away his ability to call this a partisan issue, and then we get to hammer him for fiscal irresponsibility for the next three years.

See, I think Ballard believes his fellow Republican, Gov. Mitch Daniels, is going to bail him out time and again. Thing is, there isn’t money to do that, and Daniels isn’t all that fond of Ballard, anyway.

Not to mention the fact that the Guv seems to be hoping that local government reform will define his legacy in office.

So, here’s how we set this one up: “Mayor Ballard, you’re in charge, and we’ve been waiting for a year for you to say or do something substantive. If you believe this tax proposal will allow us to responsibly fund city services without selling off any of our assets or making other cuts, we are willing to support you. But we want that guarantee, and we’re going to hold you accountable for keeping this promise, unlike all the ones you made and broke on the campaign trail.”

Give him enough rope. He’ll tie himself in knots.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will call for a nearly $18 million cut in the County Option Income Tax over the next three years.

Accodring to a city spokesman the city no longer has to pay for police pensions and child welfare so it no longer has to levy taxes for those costs, thus the COIT reduction.

The Mayor will hold a news conference on Monday to discuss the rest of the details.