A Marion County Judge ruled a state law provision unconstitutional, sending about $10 million a year of local income tax money from Carmel to Fishers, as what Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness described as a “temporary solution” to what the City of Fishers views as an unfair tax distribution system.
Going back to the days of Scott Faultless as town council president and Scott Fadness’ time as an intern with the town staff, Fishers officials have been warning about an unfair tax distribution system established by the state. Fadness described the court decision as “a dramatic turn of events…an unfortunate one.” Fadness argued that if you combine the two major revenue streams for Fishers, property and income taxes, Carmel receives $60 million per year more than Fishers, even though the two cities are similar by most measures, including population.
As to what may come next, Fadness did not comment specifically, but said “We are still evaluating everything.” The $10 million in local income tax funds from Carmel to Fishers is described by Fadness as a temporary solution, making the situation “tolerable – doing away with that [temporary solution] makes the financial realities literally unsustainable under the current form.”
The Fishers City Council wasted no time in enacting a new ordinance imposing a $250 fine for those ticketed for loitering. It normally takes more than one reading to pass such a measure, but the council can suspend the rules and pass such an ordinance the same night with a unanimous vote. That is what happened at the March council session. The vote was 9-0 to suspend the rules and 9-0 in favor of the ordinance. Fadness described this ordinance as a “measured approach” to the problem of car meetups in Fishers that fill city parking lots and parking garages.
Two central office administrators for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools have resigned. At the March 27 board meeting, the resignations of Katy Dowling and Jimmy Lake were approved unanimously by board members. Dowling has served as the district’s chief financial officer since June 2021. Lake was hired as chief operations officer in May 2022.
With a new school superintendent hired, there have been a number of other changes announced by HSE Schools in the top leadership. Brian Murphy will be a new face to the HSE central office staff. He comes to the local district from the Indiana Department of Education, where he served as chief of staff. Before that, Murphy served as executive director for the Indiana State Board of Education. At HSE, Murphy will serve as assistant superintendent for human resources and will report directly to Superintendent Patrick Mapes.
Cecilie Nunn, who served briefly as HSE’s chief financial officer before stepping down to be an accounts payable clerk, will assume the job of director of business/deputy treasurer, a position she has held before. Stephanie Madison has served as director of business for HSE Schools and is resigning, but will be paid via contract to handle the transition. Ryan Taylor will move from leading student services to assistant superintendent of secondary schools. Danielle Fetters-Thompson will go from executive director for elementary education to assistant superintendent of foundational learning.
HSE Schools Deputy Superintendent Matt Kegley wants to make one thing clear to families of graduating seniors at both high schools – the date for the 2024 graduation is set and is not changing. Rehearsal is May 31 and commencement is still on for June 1. However, there is a proposed change to the 2025 graduation date. Instead of May 31, the 2025 HSE Schools graduation will be held on June 7. This will be the first commencement to be conducted at the new Fishers Event Center, currently under construction.
The reconstruction of Allisonville Road and 96th Street has begun. The Michigan left is being reconfigured into a two-lane roundabout. Watch for updates on changes in the traffic pattern. The construction is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Fishers police warn that “porch pirates” are operating in Fishers, stealing packages before residents can retrieve them. Here are some suggestions from the police – know when your packages are going to arrive and have someone retrieve them, ship your packages to your office if allowed, install a doorbell camera, purchase a package lockbox, and report suspicious activity.
Make 48, a competition pitting groups of inventors against each other, is returning to the Hub & Spoke in Fishers. Last year a Fishers family won the contest. This year the event is scheduled for the Makerspace from May 3 through 5. The Fishers Board of Public Works & Safety approved the professional services agreement with Make 48 allowing the competition. There is no cost to the city. Makerspace Manager Nick Snyder told the board this event will be broadcast on PBS and a streaming service available on a Roku device.
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