Carmel wins lawsuit over state law that diverted local income tax funds to Fishers

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9 thoughts on “Carmel wins lawsuit over state law that diverted local income tax funds to Fishers

  1. A no brainer ruling. The arguments the state made in this case about why Carmel should have its money stolen were laughable.

    The real root issue here is that Carmel has had a deep understanding of Indiana’s local fiscal structure, and leveraged every tool the state provided to the max in order to grow its fiscal capacity. Fishers simply did not understand the state’s local tax structure, and made choices that disadvantaged it. Now, having belatedly recognized that, they got the state – remember, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston lives in Fishers – to pass a special law to simply take Carmel’s money and give it to them.

    Fishers has been pedaling hard since converting to a city and Fadness became mayor. But they are still digging out of a hole from their previous 25 years of coasting along as a town.

    The state absolutely needs to give more fiscal tools to local governments.
    The way taxes are allocated probably does need to change. It should probably be based on where the tax is actually collected. In Ohio and elsewhere, that’s done based on the place of employment. Indiana relies mostly on place of residence. Most likely some kind of hybrid system would be best, although with remote and hybrid work, that weakens the case for a place of employment based system. But whichever way, it should be based on where the taxpayer lives or the job is actually located.

    But however this should be reformed, robbing from Peter to pay Paul isn’t the answer.

  2. Why do we even have a legislator when one judge can wipe out a fair decision by many elected representatives? We all know Carmel and Clay screwed every taxpayer in Hamilton County by gaming the formulas.

    1. Because the legislature’s decision (again) was ridiculous, and unconstitutional. Read the decision. They’ve been raping Indianapolis’s ordinances for years. Local control only matters if the legislature agrees with local decisions.

    2. We have judges to stop legislatures from violating our constitution. Greed and corruption drive legislatures to violate the constitution all too often.

      Fishers can appeal since you don’t like the judge.

      Fisher’s government continues to dial in low intelligence. When it has the chance to attract outside money, it hinders its own effort. Just look at the too small, too few parking spaces Fishers allowed around HC Tavern. Probably the City Council trying to please their developer pals at everyone else’s inconvenience. Think it doesn’t matter? Think again.

      Hamilton Southeastern has been, at times, considered the best school district in Hamilton County. Judging by Fishers government, including election day selections, this is hard to fathom.

    3. Rick, good point. When the legislature passes anti-Indianapolis laws, there’s mass outrage, op-eds, etc. But when it’s an anti-Carmel law, all of a sudden much of the “local control” crowd goes radio silent.

    4. Gaming the formulas or understanding the law? You must not live in Carmel and wish you did.

  3. Don’t kid yourself, Carmel has an incredibly high debt load ($1.5B “yes, with a B”) and Fishers might be seeing some of their “pot of gold” in tax revenue crimped. Maybe that fancy stadium will not be able to have cup holders as a result.

  4. Glad to see this ruling. Scott Fadness is as self aggrandizing as they come and while he’s been successful in robbing Indianapolis’ tax base, there’s only so much lipstick you can put on a swine.

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