I should say why the people who live in Fishers don’t care. You see Fishers has grown so fast it not yet a community, it’s just a place to live. I have to wonder how many people can say I have lived in the Town of Fishers 50 years, 40, 30, 20 or even 10 years. Even if they lived in the area that is now Fishers, it wasn’t Fishers a few years ago.

Maybe this is the root of the problems of the politics of Fishers, too many new people with no sense of community, too many young families with more of an allegiance to the HSE School System than to the community. The young families more concerned with the upkeep of a new family and a new home. More allegiance to the SPORTS program as it affects their children a lot more than the town government. They don’t have the time to worry about the town government, they are more worried about getting home and the traffic battles and they hope someone will solve the problem. There is a lack of older citizens that have grown up with the community to provide that sense of direction that many other towns and cities have. It’s these older folks in most towns that solve the problems, provide direction, which helps the government to solve their problems. But not in this community.

You can see it in the spending profile of the Town government, someone at the Geist public hearing said they were spending like “drunken Sailors” how true. The town folks have no idea how much they are spending and how it will affect them in years to come. The town government believes they can bail themselves out by building a bigger tax base. Turn the airport into a industrial park with lots of commercial concerns to bring in tax dollars, who cares about all the extra trucks on 96th street, turn the area around town hall into a major 100 million dollar tax base with no regard for the citizens or business already in the area, after all they don’t bring in a lot of money to the town, 100 million dollars will do nicely for the tax base. Then there is the Geist War of 2007 and the goose that can lay one golden egg year after year. Actually 2-3 millions dollars in income above spending every year to help bail them out. Forget Geist for a minute and look at all the other annexations, Fishers skips areas and creates a swiss cheese community by only annexing areas that would provide a positive income to the tax base, while very smart for the govrnment, not smart for the people.

Citizens of Fishers, while you are very busy building your families, your government is actually failing you. Just like a person living beyond their means one day it will come crashing down on all of you. The Town Council won’t admit to you they are in trouble, instead they slowly raise taxes every year by the legal limit. When will you find out, it depends, it depends on all of you, and if you want to find out. Or you will all find out in 10-20 years when you send the kids off to college and have some time to start to view the Town Council and the government of Fisher. Please don’t wait.

Comments 11

  1. Lucy Nieson says:

    I lived in fishers for over 8 years and I am now in the Geist area. I was not afraid of moving to Geist in fear of Fishers taxing us as I see a need for the Geist area to be taxed by Fishers.
    The police, fire and all other services are utilized with NO taxes being paid by the Geist community. Can you honestly say that the young families in Fishers should have to pay your way? If you can afford to live here then you should be able to afford to pay for police and fire services like the people in Fishers do.
    There are NO FREE RIDES in this world, that includes the elite of Geist.
    As for there being no sense of community in Fishers, that is a false statement! It is fast becoming a close knit community with a lot to offer and was more welcoming than the Geist area has been!!

  2. Just an Observation says:

    Lucy, it has already been established that the people of Geist do pay their fair share. You can go to the Town of Fishers website and pull up FISHERS TOWN COUNCIL'S PRESENTATION TO GEIST-AREA HOMEOWNERS to see the comparison between Fishers and Geist taxes. Or you can check your tax statement. You pay exactly the same taxes across the board as Fishers residents, but, you pay way more in Township taxes than the people of Fishers. That is because the Township taxes that you pay go to the Sheriff for "police protection" and to reimburse Fishers Fire Dept. for fire protection. Fishers doesn't give us fire protection for FREE. The thing is: Geist has already found out the we could get fire protection for a lot less from other area fire services. Too bad that fire protection has not been "bid out" by our Township Trustee's office. Fire protection is the only service we get from Fishers, and we are paying them for that service. Fishers residents pay Fishers town taxes, which Geist residents don't pay. This is their "fair share" for Fishers Police and Fire protection and to pay for things like the upkeep on the Town Hall and other things that Geist residents don't need or want. Why should Geist residents pay for the excesses and deficit spending by a Town Council that can't seem to be fiscally responsible? If your next door neighbor spent money to the point that he couldn't pay his bills and he came to you and asked you to pay them for him, would you do it? Now, keep in mind this is not a loan that he is going to pay back. He just wants you to pay for his overspending "for as long as you live next to him". That is essentially what Fishers is doing. They are our neighbors, but we aren't responsible for their deficit. In the name of keeping taxes low, the Fishers Town Council keeps annexing more areas to increase the tax base. It is like a pyramid scheme. At some point there is nothing else left to annex and then the problems begin. In fact, they are already starting to show. I, for one, have never bought into a pyramid or multi-level marketing scheme. The people at the top are the only winners. Others may gain a little at first, but eventually funds dry up. Instead of looking to Geist to fix their problems, Fishers Town Council needs to step back and take a good hard look at how they are running the Town. If you don't have the money, don't do the project. Stop borrowning money that you can't pay back. And one more thing: Not all the people effected by the annexation live in big houses around the reservoir. Some of the people live in houses that are 50 years old and have less than 1000 sq. ft. of living area. You know, house built back in the 50's & 60's. When they were young, the husband worked a blue collar job and the wife stayed home. They didn't go to college. They are folks who have paid their "fair share" all of those years, long before Fishers was the metropolis it is now. They live in their 2 or 3 bedroom, 1 bath, home and are now retired and living on a fixed income. They are law abiding, know how to stretch a dollar, and "help your neighbor" kind of people. They don't drive big new cars or go on vacations to warm climates. Forced Annexation is effecting a lot more people in the State of Indiana than just the people that live in expensive homes on Geist. These people live in all kinds of areas and have different economic backgrounds. Saying that rich people should just "quit complaining and pay up" is not the point of this annexation battle. The point is that taxation without representation and over-riding the will of the majority of the people is exactly why this county was founded. Regardless of economics or social status, all people should have a say in what happens to their property and not have decisions forced down their throats by politicians that they didn't elect. Indiana is one of only a handful of states that have these antiquated laws on the books. All the other states are doing just fine without them. And in every state with Forced Annexation laws, there are groups just like the Geist United Opposition that are lobbying to get them repealed. But, cities like Carmel and Fishers are lobbying to keep them. Money, money money, money!

  3. bagel says:

    Lucy

    I am very sorry to see that you did not do your homework before making your comment about Geist not paying for Police, fire, etc. I see someone has already answered you that the people of Geist do pay. Here is a little more information for you. The Geist area pays 2.2 million dollars for a contract with Fishers Fire Department for protection and based on a quote from the Lawrence Fire Department for the same services it is about $400,000.00 high. So the Geist area is actually providing fire protection to Fishers. Now Police, have you ever seen a Fishers Police car in Geist – no, unless it is driving on county roads to the back end of Fishers by Scott Flautless’s house. You should check into why Scott has his home on Geist and how he got that area into Fishers, very questionable. So if you live in Geist and dial 911 and one of the Sheriff Carter ‘s County Deputies shows up, not a Fishers officer. One of the favorites of the Fishers Political machine is a sewer, did you know that Geist area homes that are in the Fishers sewer system pay approximately 25% more a month for the hook up than those who live in Fishers. Fishers has claimed we use their parks, their Library, their schools and of course their roads. This may come as a big surprise to you but Fishers doesn’t have any schools or libraries. Parks, yes some of the children of the area take part in the SPORTS program and some of the activities are in the parks. Please read the Fishers ordinance on parks, it is very clear about them being open to everyone, but if you as a community don’t want anyone form the outside to play in your parks, that is fine with me, but you can’t go to any other park owned by someone else. Fair is fair. Now we come to roads, if we in Geist can’t drive on your roads you can’t drive on Indy’s, Carmel’s, or any other. Maybe we should stop driving on Fishers roads and stop going to Fishers business owners. This shows you how dumb the comments have been by your Town Council members.

    You are 100% correct there are “NO FREE RIDES” which means that the taxes in Fishers to cover the massive debt that your town leaders have amassed must be paid and you will have to pay it, the citizens of Fishers will have to pay, your taxes will have to jump significantly. The people of Geist should not have to pay for the services you get and they don’t.

    Now about the sense of community. 60,000 plus people and 2698 voted in the one and only contested Council District. All the other Council Districts no one even bothered to run. Some community. Sounds more like Tammy Hall. No you have some neighborhoods with good HOA’s and they provide that sense of community, as for Fishers it has none. If it did it would not try and stick it to its neighbors in Geist. Your community would be outraged that the town leaders want to throw the people who live near town hall out so they can build a 100 million dollar town center. You should be outraged that they gave approval to 25 story apartment houses and more development in an area that has too much traffic already, you should be outraged that they approve every development and thus have force children into trailers for classrooms. You should be outraged that they want to convert the airport into an industrial complex with even more trucks on I-69 and 96th street.

    No you have no sense of community, I only wish you had.

  4. Surprised says:

    Lucy, I'd be really interested to know what information you were given that led you to be so compeled to post your comments. I'm trying to understand the root of the problem with the misinformation and the meanness and rudeness that comes with it. I know for a fact that much of it has come from the Town Council members themselves. I could understand you being angry if what you were saying were true, but you have to look deep to understand why you'd go forward with your comments on the little information you have instead of questioning it. I have seen far too much of this recently from Fishers residents who I know are reasonable people, but who are being herded along by their town council. Someone should do a study on this situation to understand how such mis-information can so quickly be passed as truth and then cause such bad blood. Unfortunately, things have gotten complicated and that has made it such that people just want to tune it all out. It's also made it easy for half-truths to run rampant, but that's what politicians count on isn't it. Please dig into this a little more and keep a level head.

  5. Frustrated says:

    Wow,

    The people of GUO are amazing! Do you guys have any idea how pompous and arrogant you look?? I have never seen such a hateful group of people as the people opposing the annexation- all to avoid some extra taxes-wow! Surely you guys could find something more noble to do with your time than this. I am thankful for Lucy's comment, especially since she is a Geist resident, because it lets me know not all of Geist agrees with the GUO. We have strongly considered moving to the Geist area from Fishers but the primary reason we have not is the way the community is acting on this issue. You guys should really take a close look at yourselves and the negative, hateful image you are portraying to those of us around you.

  6. Dumbfounded says:

    You wouldn't move to Geist because of the GUO? Wow, that's a new one.

  7. Bagel says:

    Dear Frustrated
    You need to take good look at what you said. This is the United States of America and thank god for people who are willing to fight oppressive governments for freedom. The Fishers government is just plan oppressive and does not believe in people or the will of the people. They are the same as an invading army attacking another city.

    You said the GUO is hateful. The GUO is far from hateful; they work hard with the people of the community to avoid the truly hateful people of Fishers government from trying to take over their community. Hateful is the statement by the head of the Fishers Planning Commission who said, “We will make them suffer for this.” Nice guy.

    The image of the GUO is one of that fighting for freedom, against a Town Council that does not want to listen or care about citizens. That is how they are view by almost everyone in Geist. But at the same time they respect those who do no agree. No one is forcing anyone to sign petitions, yet over 50% have for their own town. The GUO will speak with signatures of the people of Geist. They have no hate of Fishers citizens and friends. Its not the people of Fishers, it’s their uncontrolled government.

    I do have to feel sorry about Lucy; she believed the trash spoken by the Town Council about all the free services for Geist. Why not, she thought they were respected leaders of the community. But, if the Town Council was honest and above board they would never have made those false and misleading comments. Many people have been mislead by those comments. The GUO has time and time again proven those statements to be false, since when is telling the truth hateful.

    You must live in Fishers and by getting Geist into Fishers you will be avoiding “some extra taxes.” Because Fishers is deep in debt and that debt is growing and you will be the one who has to bail out your government. For someone living in Geist you believe a 16.45% raise in taxes followed by another 5% is a small amount. They are all rich and can afford it. Sorry they are not all rich and many will have to give up their homes. That is what the people of Geist would have to look forward too without any increase in any services. But for the people of Fishers that means an extra 2-3 million dollars a year in profit going to pay off the debt and keeping their taxes down. Maybe instead of writing about hate you should check into your Fishers government and see where the real problems are lucking. But what the heck, have those dam people of Geist pay more in taxes, you don’t care, who is being hateful now.

  8. Surprised says:

    Frustrated,

    You do realize that Lucy's comments are incorrect do you not? The problem we (at least that I have) have with the whole annexation thing is the pompous and arrogant attitudes of the Fishers town council who have somehow convinced Lucy and others to say things like this, "The police, fire and all other services are utilized with NO taxes being paid by the Geist community. " That is just not true. Go to the post on Fisher's own website @ http://www.fishers.in.us/department/division.asp?… or read the earlier posts @ http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID….

    I'm telling you, you are reacting just like the town council wants you to react — first wanting it to look like we don't pay our taxes and use your services for free and secondly, to look like we are the ones who have all the money and are the arrogants one. I wish you could see things more objectively. And believe me, I live in the Geist area and I was ready to be annexed because it just seemed to make sense to Join up with such a great town as Fishers…and then the lies/half-truths began. The town board came and visited our homeowners association and gave a presentation. I had never seen such arrogance in my life! They gave a presentation trying to convince us that (instead of telling us what good would/could come from begin part of Fishers), taxes would actually be higher to incorporate, including the normal, up-front-costs in the overall tax rate (which has since be debunked). Then they (Scott Fautless) tell us, literally (no joking or exaggerating) that if we didn't become part of Fishers, they would have the Fisher police enforce that no Geist kids participlated in S.P.O.R.T.S. in their parks. I understand the point and it's their right to want only citizens of Fishers ot use their parks, but S.P.O.R.T.S. is a private organization that uses school property too. That's an issue for Fishers to take up with S.P.O.R.T.S., not something to use as a scare tactic.

    Yes, Fishers has grown out toward and surrounded the Geist area. Look at how that happened (they have zoning control over all new development in the Geist area). But regardless of how it happened, it happened, and then to get the rest of the unannexated but already developed area, they talk about how Geist people use their services without paying for them. The first wave of confusion (that they gladly allowed) was with the schools. Those are a non-issue since that's a county tax. The next wave of confusion was Fire service (e.g. Lucy's post). Geist people pay for Fire protection. There is a contract (paid contract) with the Fishers FD. Then as I mentioned came the S.P.O.R.T.S. program — simply resolved by S.P.O.R.T.S. if they need to, to charge a fee for non Fishers-residents to play in the Fishers parks, if your childs activity is even in a Fishers park. (Of course S.P.O.R.T.S. could do what they saw fit, since it's their private program). Roads was used throughout their argument, which makes no sense at all since it's the businesses on the roads that we patronize, just like Casteton or Noblesville. That's were you get tax relief, but besides that, we pay for our roads they Fishers residents pay for as well. Police, we don't use Fishers police — we use the County Sherrif and other hired officers. Please try to see things from Geist perspective. Sure there are arrogant Geist people and sure their are arrogant Fishers people. Don't make it an issue about that because it's irrelevant. Look at the facts and the truths. Don't take what anyone is saying as pure facts without digging into it and asking people who aren't motiviated by such things as money and power (I know, that's hard to find, but it really is worth a try).

  9. JQFD says:

    I live in Fishers and I agree with the GUO. I don't think they are arrogant at all, they just don't want to be forced to pay higher taxes at the whim of people they did not elect, and for which they get nothing in return. The arrogance is that of the Fishers Town Council, which I find appalling. And yes, I did my part, I voted for the only Democrat who ran against the lock-step Republicans on the Council.

  10. Surprised says:

    JQFD, I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't calling anyone on the GUO arrogant. I was actually very impressed with their level-headedness in this situation. They have actually shown great restraint, aggressive where they need to be, but they haven't lashed out as they could given the circumstances. Anyway, I was also attempting to make the point the we are very similar communities. I've seen a lot of Fishers folks pointing to the Geist folks as if they are completely alike. Really, can we be that different in terms of the types of people we are? The issue is solely on the Fisher's Town Council and where they are trying to take the city. Something to consider: What if Fishers was able to maintain a tax rate that was exactly the same as what Geist folks pay. What would Fishers folks be saying then? There has to be additional costs to run a city and pay for all the things a city has, but Fishers is bloating at the moment. Can't that be recognized? It's not that you are overpaying on taxes because Geist isn't paying "their fair share." It's that Fisher's has a spending issue — they need more and more and want to be bigger and better. Since, because Geist is paying less in taxes (because we don't have to support a city like Fishers) it looks like we are the bad guys…the rich, don't-want-to-pay-our-own-way, whatever-you-want-to-say-to-justify-additional-tax-base villians. It's a good tactic I suppose, but it is just that a tactic that Fisher's town folks are buying into (literally).

  11. Surprised says:

    Sorry…meant to use the word "unalike" as to say "I’ve seen a lot of Fishers folks pointing to the Geist folks as if they are completely unalike."

    Man, I wish these posts could be edited!!! (Sorry)

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