Indy Democratic Councilors Release Budget Proposal

City County Council Democrats have released their 2014 budget proposal.

The plan calls for an expansion of the police taxing district, which was approved Monday, as well as using $7.5 million from the Rebuild Indy fund to hire 30 additional police officers and tapping into parking meter revenue.

Public Safety Chair Mary Moriarty Adams calls it a balanced approach.

"The administration had offered use of the fiscal stability fund and or the Rebuild Indy Fund to hire more police officers and perhaps even honor their three percent contractual increase, so we agree with them on that," she said.  "They should still use those funds or look at those funds to be used in order to add those additional police officers."

The proposal calls for preserving the local homestead tax credit. 

Mayor Greg Ballard wants to eliminate it and says it could provide $9 million to hire 80 additional police officers.

Republican councilors tried to revive the issue during Monday's meeting, but were defeated.

Opponents say getting rid of the credit puts an added tax burden on some residents about $22 a year on average and will cost schools and libraries hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Moriarty Adams believes keeping the credit should garner support for the democratic budget proposal.

"It's balanced because the actual dollars are coming from fund balance, existing dollars that are already in city and county budgets," she said.  "So it's not raising taxes on property tax payers.  These dollars are already in existance in current fund balances."

The council is scheduled to vote on finalizing the 2014 budget next month.