Indiana legislators will address issues facing Madison County on July 16 at the Anderson Public Library, 111 E. 12th St.
The Triad Meeting is open to the public and starts at 10:30 a.m.
Senator Tim Lanane and Indiana State Representatives Terri Austin, Scott Reske and Jack Lutz are scheduled to appear. Among the issues on the agenda are local school funding, property taxes, and FSSA welfare privatization. A question and answer session will follow the legislators’ opening remarks.
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One pressing issue is the shifting of state funds away from the troubled Anderson Community School Corporation in favor of the burgeoning school systems of Hamilton County. The shifting of funds is no surprise when you consider Hamilton County has three of the top five fastest-growing Indiana cities, according to a July 1 report from the Indiana University Business Research Center.
Among Indiana’s 20 largest cities, these made the Top 5 in population growth from 2000 to 2008:
- Fishers (Hamilton County), 80.6 percent
- Noblesville (Hamilton County), 43.4 percent
- Greenwood (Johnson County), 30.9 percent
- Carmel (Hamilton County), 25.2 percent
- Lawrence (Marion County), 11.1 percent
Also likely to surface is legislators’ recent displeasure with the Indiana General Assembly’s 2009 state budget. Specifically, several were opposed to the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) bailout, which includes the sports and entertainment complexes of Conseco Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center.
Tell Us What You Think
Please leave your comments below, and give us your feedback!
- Should Madison County schools get more state money despite flat or declining population figures?
- Did the CIB get preferential treatment over Hoosier Park when receiving its state-funded bailout?
- Should professional sports teams like the Colts or Pacers shoulder more of the burden in operating state-of-the-art facilities? Or, should taxpayers continue to foot the bill?
- With the privatization of FSSA, are fewer food stamp recipients a sign of reduced welfare fraud in the system? Or as Democrats would argue, is the state simply kicking out would-be welfare recipients for no good reason?
- How do you feel about your property taxes going sky-high?
Please see:
Legislators to Speak at Meeting
Indiana’s Largest City and Town Population Gains