The afternoon after Greg Ballard’s shocking victory at the polls, the mood was sober at Marion County Republican headquarters.
Jubilation had given way to reality. Although mayor-elect Ballard described himself “as tired as a guy could get,” he has
no time for a break. And what the former U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel will do is largely a mystery.
The art of the deal is to get more than you give up. If Gov. Mitch Daniels convinces the General Assembly to pass his property
tax plan intact, he’ll meet the definition of deal-maker, and then some.
City planners have long envisioned a high-tech corridor of life sciences research buildings and businesses extending northwest
of downtown to 16th Street. And the city is now spending $4 million on infrastructure and streetscape improvements toward
that end, as well as signage identifying the area as a life sciences hub.
Shelbyville leaders and residents are grumbling about restrictions the Indiana Economic Development Corp. just slapped on
Intelliplex, their $22.8 million certified technology park.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Jack Gill–and dozens like him–are being recruited from far beyond state lines to support Indiana’s incumbent governor. On Oct. 9, Gill will be in the crowd at technology entrepreneur Scott Jones’ Carmel mansion. Jones, who organized the event, aims to collect $1 million for Daniels in a single day.
Indiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt says his philosophy toward consumer protection is to be tough on the “bad actors,”
but friendly toward the “good actors”;–in part, so he can call for their help when needed.Not everyone is convinced, however,
because Atterholt has done so much in his 2-1/2 years as commissioner to promote industry causes.
In the less than two years since Mark Miles, 53, took over the CEO-driven Central Indiana Corporate Partnership in 2006, he’s
transformed it into an economic development powerhouse for life sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing.
How so fast? He started networking with Indiana’s political heavyweights more than 30 years ago. And he never stopped.
The property-tax reassessment process that Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered last month will take five months and cost up to $3 million.
But don’t expect it to significantly alter the property-tax equation, warns Franklin Township Assessor Becky Williams, who
also serves as president of the Indiana Assessors Association.
Indiana’s property tax woes are already a headache for Marion County homeowners. Now the cure is becoming a migraine for area
businesses, local elected officials and regional economic developers, too.
Indiana deliberately chose not to invest the tens of millions necessary for technology that could provide an accurate property-tax
forecast. Instead, the state relied on an aging patchwork of property tax software that allows officials only to guess whether
assessed valuations of homes and businesses are correct.
The Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce is developing a new weapon for local startups-Slingshot, a business-networking
forum that will give budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to swing sales meetings directly with high-ranking corporate executives.
A former head of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance says some Marion County homeowners soon could see property-tax
increases of as much as 50 percent–far higher than government officials estimated. In part, that’s because of Indiana’s decision
five years ago to abolish the inventory tax.
Campaign finance records through the first quarter of 2007 show Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, has raised $176,950
in Indiana. That’s more than twice as much as one-time Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, his closest Republican rival.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. did OK in the just-completed legislative session. IEDC received $96 million it can
now dole
out as business grants. And lawmakers had authorized tax credits worth millions more for the commercialization of new…
Taxes on Marion County commercial and industrial properties soon may go up sharply. The Indiana Department of Local Government
Finance, which oversees the state property tax system, has ordered a complete reassessment of the county's commercial
and industrial properties.
Thanks to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s increased collection efforts, the state has recouped millions
of dollars in unpaid unemployment insurance taxes since January 2006. But one in eight Hoosier businesses remains delinquent.
Economic development officials say networking is the first step in a process that, when successful, leads to industrial plant
expansions and company headquarters relocations. Travel, food, gifts and entertainment, they argue, are a necessary cost of
attracting jobs to Indiana.
Fred Glass, president of the city's Capital Improvement Board, headed historic transitions in both the mayor’s and governor’s
offices and has become the go-to guy for some of the city’s biggest initiatives, most of them sports-related.
Indianapolis fought long and hard to earn a reputation as a safe place to live and conduct business. But police statistics
show that local security is eroding. Crime has risen to the highest levels seen during Mayor Bart Peterson’s administration.
Legislators are weighing a measure that would offer taxpayer-funded rebates to production companies willing to make movie
magic in Indiana–giving a boost to an industry that’s been asking for help since 2004.
