Fishers is Forcibly Annexing Intracoastal

Well, according to the 2008 Fishers budget proposal introduced tonight, next year’s budget will have expenditures $11.5 million MORE than revenues.  That’s right, an $11.5 MILLION budget deficit.  The Town Manager, Gary Huff, plans on using a large surplus in the sewer fund to make up for the shortfall.

The problem is, this is the exact same fund that the Town uses to offer interest-free loans for sewer hookups when they want to be annexed, mostly because their septic has failed.  Notably, this is the same fund they are using for promised sewer and water hookups for Geist, to induce them to be annexed.

When I asked about this, I was told that they do not expect any of the Geist deals to go thru!  I think that would be news to our neighbors at Geist!

And forget Geist for the moment.  If they use $11.5 million of a $20 million sewer fund, that fund is going to disappear pretty fast.  Even if it is not gone by 2009, it certainly would be gone by 2010.  Then what?  The only alternatives are increasing tax revenues, or decreasing expenditures.

And in the Intracoastal at Geist INVOLUNTARY annexation package, was a tidbit.  They admit that it costs Fishers nothing for Geist residents to use our parks.  This kills the propaganda which was spread for two years that Geist folks were freeloading.  And by the way, what happened to the Intracoastal VOLUNTARY annexation?  Maybe a majority of those folks don’t support annexation after all.

And lastly, at the next Council meeting in two weeks, they are bringing back the “Town Center” development, you know, the one where they want to bulldoze everything between the railroad tracks and Lantern Road, on both sides of 116th Street?  They originally said, “No public money” for this project.  The tune has changed on that.  NOW they are talking about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to fund the developer.  Just how much of the $100 Million project would be so financed is not yet known.  Forget the disturbing issues about all TIFs for a minute, we would be PAYING a developer up to $100 Million out of our own tax dollars to destroy the only historic area left in Fishers, before the developer has approached the first landowner.

All this illustrates the need for a different voice on the Fishers Town Council.  As the campaign enters its last 60 days, I need your help more than ever.  I need volunteers and I need contributions, both of which will spread the message of open, responsible government in Fishers.  If you are already a contributor and/or a volunteer, thank you for your support.  Please feel free to ask your friends and neighbors to help in this campaign, with their time, or their money, whatever they can afford of either.  We hope to call targeted voters in the next two months, we need help from that.  I hope to visit some homes and meetings in the next two months, and if we can get enough funds for handouts in targeted neighborhoods, we will need volunteers to distribute those door-to-door.  And we will need help on Election Day, November 6.

Feel free to forward this email to potential supporters, or have them email me.  I hope you can all help.

Greg Purvis
Democratic candidate, Fishers Town Council
www.Purvis4Fishers.com