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USA, Indiana, Indianapolis, Downtown at night

Source: Henryk Sadura / Getty

The Afternoons with Amos PODCAST for Tuesday, August 18, 2015.  (Discussion Of 2016 City/County Budget Starts At 30:16 Mark On PODCAST Media Player). It’s a record spending amount Mayor Greg Ballard introduced in final budget, one he’s required to introduce, but where he will have no authority to execute.  The proposed 2016 budget for Indianapolis/Marion County is a record $1.1 Billion Dollars.  Of which 37% would be spend on public safety.  On Afternoons with Amos, City Controller Matt Kimmick walked through the proposed budget for Amos and listeners.  Kimmick and the Mayor say this is a “maintenance budget” where the city and county agencies are spending just enough dollars to get the basic job done.  But there are departments and agencies that are seeing more resources.  The agency with the largest budget is the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) with a proposed budget of $227.6 Million; up $5.9 million or 2.7%. Next highest is the Fire Department at $160.8 Million, up $2.6 Million or 1.6%. Department of Public Works is the next highest spender at $144.4 Million, but that’s down $9.2Million, some 6.0% because of a reduction in dollars from the Rebuild Indy fund, said Kimmick.  The Marion County Sheriff’s budget grows $1.9 million to $114.8 Million, up 1.7%, driven by costs of medical treatments for inmates. The IMPD and fire budget increases are driven by salary increases approved for police officers and firefighters. Federal grants drives a $10.2 million jump in the budget for the Department of Metropolitan Development to nearly $87 Million, a 13.3% increase. While the budgets for IMPD and the Sheriff are increasing, the budgets for the county’s courts are reduced $2.4 Million or 4.4% to $53.5 Million. Budgets for the Marion County Prosecutor, the Public Defender and Child Support are also seeing small declines. Incomes tax revenue is a growing part of revenues funding the city/county budget. Some 28% of the $1.07 billion in revenue comes from income taxes, where as property taxes account for $29%; a figure that is remaining stagnant. The remaining 43% of revenues comes from Federal and state grants and other revenue sources. A controversial part of the budget is a “moratorium” on the controversial local homestead property tax credit, which keeps property taxes down for many Indianapolis homeowners.  Mayor Ballard has tried for several years to eliminate this credit, which raise property taxes for many homeowners and impacts taxes levied by schools, the library and other county agencies.  The “moratorium” would free up nearly $8 million dollars which the Mayor is using to “balance” the budget. Click the Link To Go to the City/County’s Budget Page Where You Can Read & Download 2016 Budget Details. CLICK THIS LINK TO GET 2016 INDY/MARION COUNTY BUDGET DOCUMENTS AND INFO

Arlington HS students

Source: Arlington High School

(Interview Starts At 3:55 Mark On Media Player) There’s now a website where you can get detailed information on public and private school options in the Indianapolis area.  The website is MySchoolOptions.Org and Betsy Wiley of the Institute for Quality Education appeared on Afternoons with Amos to talk about the website and the reasons for it.  Betsey was joined by parent Cheryl Kirk who talked about the advantages of the website for parents and grandparents i helping make informed choices about finding the right school for ones children and grandchildren.  The website was created by the Institute for Quality Education, an Indianapolis based organization dedicated to providing information on school choice options.  Click the Link To the Website Here. MY SCHOOL OPTIONS WEBSITE Tuesday’s program also included a lively open lines segment after the 2016 Budget Discussion. Topics included setting an agenda for Indianapolis Black leadership and much more. The Afternoons with Amos PODCAST For Tuesday, August 18, 2015 Runs 99 Minutes ©2015 WTLC/Radio One. PODCAST Starts After Brief Video Ad.