Melina Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for mayor of Indianapolis, denounced Mayor Greg Ballard’s decision to divert at least $20 million of property taxes that would have gone to schools, libraries and other essential services. Instead, the mayor used property taxes on downtown projects not related to paying off the debt the TIF District owes.
“After being absent from the education discussion for the past four years, the mayor made a hasty attempt to support education by offering tax credits to non-profits and providing $2 million to charter schools,” said Kennedy. “In fact over the past four years he’s taken $20 million from entities like schools and libraries and used the money for pet projects like a walkway to connecting the Arts Garden and a hotel and giving money to the CIB. His priorities are misplaced by taking funding away from schools and libraries to fund pet projects.”
Kennedy added, “On several occasions over the past few years, the mayor has said that he could not use the substantial excess monies from the Downtown TIF district to meet the needs of libraries and IndyGo. As a result, libraries and IndyGo have been forced to make serious and painful cuts in hours and service levels.”
“The $20 million raid of tax dollars is a display of misplaced priorities,” the Democratic candidate said. “To take money from schools and libraries when they are struggling is unconscionable – and as mayor, I would never let that happen. In fact, as mayor, I will propose legislation to safeguard school, libraries and other providers of essential services from having their tax dollars raided in this way.”
Kennedy noted that the $20 million – $9.7 million of diverted personal property taxes in 2009, and roughly $10.4 million of diverted personal property taxes in 2010 – is sorely needed to restore service cuts resulting from the mayor’s decisions to fund his downtown pet projects.
Kennedy explained that she would seek to change the law Mayor Ballard has been using, to prevent the mayor from diverting property taxes from schools, libraries and other units of government when the Downtown TIF District is flush with cash.
Kennedy noted that she is not opposed to appropriate use of tax increment financing, but that Ballard in 2009 and 2010 took unfair advantage of a state law change to take money away from schools, libraries and other units of government.
Molly Deuberry, communications director for Mayor Ballard’s campaign, said, “Melina Kennedy’s criticisms of Mayor Ballard demonstrate that she doesn’t mind misleading voters to try to score political points.
Kennedy rushed to criticize part of Mayor Ballard’s education proposal by calling it “illegal” and was proven wrong within minutes, a Deuberry statement noted, adding: She is attacking Mayor Ballard for legally collecting a tax that the previous administration, in which she served as deputy mayor, also collected. Kennedy could have called for a change in the law or to forgo the collection during the five years she served in the previous administration.
Kennedy has outlined her own plans to make Indianapolis a “Quality of Life Capital,” including transformative investments in quality early childhood education so that more children are reading at grade level by the third grade, a comprehensive jobs and economic development strategy to get Indianapolis moving again, and restoration of crime prevention funding Mayor Ballard has cut over the past few years.
