An Indianapolis City-County Council panel on Tuesday night postponed a vote on their Democratic leader’s proposal to increase the minimum wage of city and county employees to $13 per hour.
Indianapolis leaders want to encourage businesses to pay livable wages. The City-County Council’s president says that’s a tough sell when the city hasn’t done that for all of its own employees.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett faces a tough battle in taking on ingrained, multigenerational issues involving homelessness, poverty, education and crime. But in his State of the City address, he vowed to try.
The measure would allow the city to be reimbursed with future bond proceeds for expenses related to the planned community justice campus.
The person hired for the position is expected to help workers from Carrier Corp. and Rexnord Corp. who are about to lose their jobs—along with trying to help revitalize old industrial sites.
The 17-8 vote will put into place an income tax increase that will raise at least $54.4 million annually to fund major improvements to the city’s bus service.
The City-County Council committee vote came after Mayor Joe Hogsett’s top adviser urged members to say yes—the first time the mayor’s office had expressed an opinion publicly about whether the tax increase should pass.
Supporters of a proposal to raise income taxes to expand mass transit in Indianapolis have at least 11 of the 13 votes they need to implement the hike.
Federal inaction on a $75 million grant IndyGo is counting on to help fund a planned rapid-transit bus line is complicating a City-County Council decision about a transit tax increase.
City officials say the billboard company GEFT had a unique case that wouldn’t apply to the several other billboard companies that have been hoping to get past the city’s ban on digital billboards.
The proposal begins its journey through the governmental process this week, and Indianapolis City-County Council is set to vote on the matter Feb. 27.
Although the proposal to raise annual pay for city-county councilors from $11,400 to $25,000 didn’t have enough support on Monday, members of the body are expected to revisit the issue next year.
City-county councilors are skittish about a measure to more than double their annual pay to $25,000 for a number of reasons, including working outside the normal budget process.
Council members voted 24-1 to include in the TIF district the former General Motors stamping plant property and the Market East District.
City-County Council Vice President Zach Adamson, along with fellow Democrat Monroe Gray, will propose on Monday raising council members’ pay from $11,400 per year to $25,000 per year.
The proposal, which supporters say will spur development in needed areas, still needs the support of the full City-County Council to move forward.
Candidates already have come forward to take over Districts 24 and 25 now that Aaron Freeman and Jack Sandlin have won seats in the state senate.
Pedal pubs will be licensed by the city and will have to carry liability insurance, among other requirements.
The move is a win for Mayor Joe Hogsett, who originally faced skepticism from council Republicans over the decision to borrow for big-ticket items by renewing bonds that are about to expire.
Ratings service Moody’s said Indianapolis’ ability to maintain a AAA rating on $78.6 million of general obligation debt reflects a “healthy financial position despite continued draws on reserves to support ongoing operations and capital maintenance.”
