9/17/2007
Media Contact:
Margie Smith-Simmons, [317] 327-3690 |
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Council passes $50 million property tax cut, crime package, pension fix in ‘08 budget
INDIANAPOLIS – Mayor Bart Peterson tonight applauded the City-County Council for passing 2008 budgets for the City of Indianapolis and Marion County, which cut the property tax levy by $50 million and holds the line on spending, even while funding one of the most significant crime fighting efforts ever.
This budget:
- Reduces the property tax levy by $50 million, due to a reduction in borrowing costs for state mandates, other cost-cutting measures, and shifting services away from property taxes.
- Lowers property tax collections to lowest amount since 2000. With this budget, city-county government is collecting fewer property tax dollars than it did in 2000 when the Mayor took office.
- Holds the line on government spending. This budget increases by less than ˝ of 1%, or less than $2 million, over last year. But the budget now includes the entire $14 million Warren Township fire budget, including savings of $4 million because of efficiencies and cost savings. That means that spending actually decreased from last year’s budget.
- Fully funds an aggressive, comprehensive war against crime, including hiring 100 new police officers.
“I applaud the Council for passing a commonsense budget that the people of Indianapolis can be proud of,” Mayor Peterson said. “Not only is it lean, fiscally conservative and responsible, but it tackles head on long-neglected problems in our city and county.”
“This budget is a statement that we are not going to continue to pass unfunded mandates and challenges to our children and our grandchildren. We are going to be responsible and serve our residents in the best, most efficient and cost-effective way possible.”
Crime package. This budget also funds an unprecedented crime package for the city of Indianapolis to continue the strides made in the past year, including:
- Hiring 100 new police officers – which, added to the 200 officers added four years ago and the 137 more patrol officers resulting from the police merger, will bring the number of officers patrolling the streets in 2008 to an all-time high of 1,740;
- Funding fixes to the criminal justice system and the county jail – including new jail beds; new judges, prosecutors and public defenders; fixes for the Crime Lab and other steps – which ended early releases due to jail overcrowding in August 2006;
- Paying off the pensions of our retired police officers and firefighters in full;
- Expanding narcotics enforcement;
- Expanding Street Level Enforcement Details, which already have made more than 2,000 arrests this year, and saturation patrols of “hot spots”;
- Expanding curfew & truancy sweeps;
- Expanding probation & warrant sweeps in high crime areas;
- Expanding vice investigations & response to complaints of prostitution, gambling, public indecency, bootlegging and other such offenses;
- Adding new Crime Lab technology to help solve burglaries quicker;
- Directly funding crime prevention & early intervention programs for the first time; and
- Adding an initiative to target those who habitually commit misdemeanors.
Significant reduction in city-county property tax levy. This budget continues Peterson’s tradition of holding the line on property taxes in city budgets.
- During Peterson’s first seven years, the city property tax levy increased an average of less than 1% per year – far below the rate of inflation.
- City departments have cut nearly $100 million out of approved budgets the last four years, along with a hiring freeze.
- Those parts of Indianapolis Works that have already been implemented – the police merger and the Washington and Warren Township fire mergers – save more than $19 million per year.
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