RSS Feed
Email Us
Follow Us
Like Us
Photo Gallery
GeistTV
It has not been announced yet, but the Town of Fishers is expected to sweeten their offer to Geist residents on Thursday.
Through a reputable source, Fishers plans on making these promises to those residents that agree to a voluntary annexation:
- Addition of 4-6 Fishers police officers that will patrol the Geist area
- Fishers will create one new park in the area
- Fishers will build a new fire station on the East side of Geist Reservoir
- Fishers will offer neighborhood grants to their newest Geist neighborhoods
This has not been confirmed, but according to sources this will be publicly announced on Thursday in the fiscal plans for the three annexation ordinances.
Before you get all excited, remember that in order for a voluntary annexation to take place, 51% of all the residents in an affected area would have to sign on to this deal. What you will be required to sign is a non-remonstrance letter which essentially takes away from the 65% remonstrance pool needed to get the forced annexation ordinances to court.
Fishers can promise all Geist residents the moon and two of your favorite stars. They know that they will never get 51% of the residents to sign on; however, they do know that if they get 36% of everyone to sign this “too good to be true” offer, the Geist residents will lose their ability to remonstrate. Better yet, they don’t have to live up to their deal.
That’s nice.. How are they going to do that AND lower property taxes? No thanks.
I do not like the brand of cool aid that Fishers is pouring. Leaves a terrible aftertaste.
From today’s Indy Star:
Geist homeowners who are annexed by the town of Fishers would control how their share of local property taxes is spent under a plan to be considered by the Town Council tonight.
The tax dollars would be placed in a piggy bank that only Geist homeowners could dip into for local public projects such as drainage repairs, said town attorney Doug Church.
The so-called impoundment fund is included in the annexation fiscal plan the council is expected to adopt at a special meeting tonight at Fishers Town Hall.
Church said the proposal is intended to address Geist homeowners’ concerns that their property taxes will be spread around town on projects that do not benefit them.
Under the plan, the homeowners’ share of the Fishers property tax levy would be dropped into the fund for three years. After that, the taxes would go to the general fund, like those of other Fishers homeowners.
The homeowners would determine what projects they wanted to spend the money on, but the council would review the requests to make sure they were for a “public purpose,” Church said.
“Painting some houses probably wouldn’t qualify,” he said.
The fund is expected to total millions of dollars, but Church could not provide an estimate of how much.
Drainage repairs? Most of Geist already pays into a drainage fund thru the Hamilton County Surveyor’s Office. If repairs are needed this fund is used to pay for the repairs and maintenace of the County Regulated Drain system.