New Sheriff in Town
Let's face it. Mitch Daniels doesn't owe this area anything. Nor do the Republicans. If there's one area they can afford to write off, it's ours.
But the recent news that the GOP caucus in Indianapolis may be planning a raid on the casino taxes being spilled into Harrison County seems just too outrageous to believe. And the impact on our Floyd County and New Albany would be not inconsiderable.
Philosophically, I'm opposed to relying on casino money to fund general operations. But rely we do. Harrison County takes in something like $23 million in head taxes and wagering taxes from Caesars Indiana right now. This city and county recieve a piece of that pie. A smaller but significant sum is generated by the philanthropic arm of the casino company and distributed quarterly by the various foundations created by Caesars.
And much of the confidence that New Albany can afford even the scaled-down Scribner Place development is contingent on Caesars' pledge of $1 million a year.
But "Their Man Mitch" has his eyes on the casinos. First, the state boosted the tax assessment on all of the state's casinos. Now, the state wants to cap the Harrison County take at $2 million. According to The Courier-Journal, GOP lawmakers discussed in conference a plan to limit how much the "casino counties" can siphon off in taxes, with the remainder going to the state general fund for redistribution. Only Evansville is scheduled to escape the knife if this plan comes to fruition.
The casino tax cap would have devastating repercussions for government in this area, particularly for Harrison County and its municipalities and schools.
While New Albany and Floyd County could more easily weather the loss, it still would ratchet even tighter the financial handcuffs faced by local taxing authorities.
One knowledgeable citizen offers this unverifiable estimate of the immediate impact on the City of New Albany: 7 fewer police officers and 7 fewer firefighters. Harrison County officials see this proposal as a doomsday scenario, of course, and rightly feel that their reliance on those taxes was justified.
A curious item entered the conversation in Indy and it went something like this: "Well, those counties would still have the foundation money." But guys, that's basically a charitable contribution, not another slush pile for government projects.
Whether rightly or wrongly, the people of Harrison County approved the boat in the expectation of being reimbursed for the impact and expected to offset the negative impacts with a quantum leap forward in the quality of life and infrastructure of the county.
The emergence of this GOP plan should be a warning to all who expect golden eggs to continue to fall from the Caesars goose. In a winner-take-all environment, don't expect equitable treatment from Indianapolis, especially with so much money on the table.
It's also a warning, like the canary in the coal mine, that this area needs to make a thorough evaluation of its taxing structure. Don't reject out of hand the proposals to permit cities and counties to create new tax structures. At some point after the legislature adjourns, New Albany and Floyd County would be well served to create a citizen commission to explore just how we should fashion our tax structures to anticipate future needs.
But the recent news that the GOP caucus in Indianapolis may be planning a raid on the casino taxes being spilled into Harrison County seems just too outrageous to believe. And the impact on our Floyd County and New Albany would be not inconsiderable.
Philosophically, I'm opposed to relying on casino money to fund general operations. But rely we do. Harrison County takes in something like $23 million in head taxes and wagering taxes from Caesars Indiana right now. This city and county recieve a piece of that pie. A smaller but significant sum is generated by the philanthropic arm of the casino company and distributed quarterly by the various foundations created by Caesars.
And much of the confidence that New Albany can afford even the scaled-down Scribner Place development is contingent on Caesars' pledge of $1 million a year.
But "Their Man Mitch" has his eyes on the casinos. First, the state boosted the tax assessment on all of the state's casinos. Now, the state wants to cap the Harrison County take at $2 million. According to The Courier-Journal, GOP lawmakers discussed in conference a plan to limit how much the "casino counties" can siphon off in taxes, with the remainder going to the state general fund for redistribution. Only Evansville is scheduled to escape the knife if this plan comes to fruition.
The casino tax cap would have devastating repercussions for government in this area, particularly for Harrison County and its municipalities and schools.
While New Albany and Floyd County could more easily weather the loss, it still would ratchet even tighter the financial handcuffs faced by local taxing authorities.
One knowledgeable citizen offers this unverifiable estimate of the immediate impact on the City of New Albany: 7 fewer police officers and 7 fewer firefighters. Harrison County officials see this proposal as a doomsday scenario, of course, and rightly feel that their reliance on those taxes was justified.
A curious item entered the conversation in Indy and it went something like this: "Well, those counties would still have the foundation money." But guys, that's basically a charitable contribution, not another slush pile for government projects.
Whether rightly or wrongly, the people of Harrison County approved the boat in the expectation of being reimbursed for the impact and expected to offset the negative impacts with a quantum leap forward in the quality of life and infrastructure of the county.
The emergence of this GOP plan should be a warning to all who expect golden eggs to continue to fall from the Caesars goose. In a winner-take-all environment, don't expect equitable treatment from Indianapolis, especially with so much money on the table.
It's also a warning, like the canary in the coal mine, that this area needs to make a thorough evaluation of its taxing structure. Don't reject out of hand the proposals to permit cities and counties to create new tax structures. At some point after the legislature adjourns, New Albany and Floyd County would be well served to create a citizen commission to explore just how we should fashion our tax structures to anticipate future needs.
posted by All4Word at 8:28 PM
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