A new income tax increase could provide approximately $29 million for Marion County, $16 million of which would go to IMPD to hire additional officers.
The Indianapolis City-County Council voted 19-10 Monday night to approve the increased rate, effective January 1st.
While most of the councilors expressed the desire to not raise taxes, some, including Democratic Councilor Mary Moriarty Adams and Republican Councilor Jack Sandlin, said the increase is necessary.
"There's a shortage of personnel. They're feeling the stress," Sandlin said. "I think that we can help that by funding and adding additional officers."
Some opponents, including Democratic councilors Angela Mansfield and LeRoy Robinson, said the city had money which could have gone to public safety, but instead was given out elsewhere by the Ballard administration.
"Mayor Ballard had repeatedly misplaced priorities; has thrown money at developers through the overuse of TIFs which could've been monies that could've been taken for public safety," Mansfield said.
"When we see this over and over and over again, I don't believe that this increase is necessary," he continued. "I believe that what we need to do is get our priorities straight and for Mayor Ballard to show fiscal responsibility when dealing with our city funds."
The original proposal also included the elimination of the local homestead tax credit, but that portion was taken out of the proposal in committee. An attempt by Republican Councilor Marilyn Pfisterer to add it back onto the proposal Monday night was voted down.
The homestead tax credit issue will be taken up in a separate proposal.
Mayor Ballard released the following statement after the council meeting:
"The City-County Council tonight took action on one piece of my plan to make Indy safer by providing part of the money needed to hire more police officers. The funding approved tonight is $2.5 million less than we requested for IMPD. I hope to continue working with the Council on a plan to fully fund IMPD and our initiative to make high-quality pre-K affordable to children from low-income families in Indy. It will take more than just hiring additional police to make our city safer; we must address the root causes of crime as well."
