Monday, February 09, 2015

Ballard Crowding Out IMPD Funding For Pre-K Contrary To Claims

Never mind what you hear being mouthed from the words of Mayor Greg Ballard or the shills in the media who don't bother to check out any facts any more, it's already become clear he is using funds that should be used to hire additional police officers for his early childhood education initiative, which I've pointed out ad nauseam is NOT a constitutional or statutory function of municipal government.

Proposal No. 46 backed by the administration appropriates $4.2 million in this year's budget for pre-K education. Half of that money would come from the City's reserve fund, while the balance will come from the county consolidated fund. At the same time, Ballard is resisting a move by Democratic members to add $4.7 million in funding to increase the number of new police officers by 155, which represents 40 more than the 115 the administration plans to hire this year after jacking income taxes yet again this year purportedly to hire more police officers. Their proposal is contained in Proposal No. 47.

Last year, the council approved shifting nearly $7 million out of the reserve fund to hire additional police officers. At the end of the year, it became clear that the extra $7 million yielded no more than 9 additional police officers after attrition was taken into account. Ballard now wants all of that money paid back to the reserve fund so he can turn around and start pulling money back out of that same fund to pay for his pre-K education. At the rate of retirements, Ballard's plan to add 115 more police officers will likely result in a net closer to half that number. The 2007 income tax increase was supposedly for the purpose of hiring more police officers. Yet, when all was done and said, IMPD wound up with fewer, not more police officers. Nobody can ever seem to account for what happened to all of that money.

The Democrats claim their proposal for more police officers is funded through available funds taking into account the additional tax revenues raised from the 10% income tax rate increase. Ballard says the money isn't there because the City must repay the money taken from the reserve fund last year to pay for more police officers that actually never were hired. Again, where did the money go? The same place it always goes. It's always a shell game with city revenues. Ballard's promise to provide transparency in the City's budget is just one of many unfulfilled promises he made when he first ran for mayor.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it possible Indianapolis would be better off without a mayor and without a City Council?

Guest said...

I wrote the council repeatedly not to pass this. The last I heard it passed and was waiting to be funded. It was advertised that the state was taking applications for its Pre-K pilot program which included Marion County.(They had children dressed up in their matching t-shirts to advertise this) That is the last I heard on this and it is very confusing. If the state is funding their pilot program and Indianapolis is funding theirs just what is going on other than their usual razzle-dazzle money grab.

Anonymous said...

At least Pre-K might do society some good, unlike the worthless, tax-sucking IMPD scum in the white SUV who was giving traffic tickets on Keystone, just south of 86th, this weekend.

Is every crime solved, traffic cop? If not, maybe you should be doing real police work, instead of being a needless rolling meter maid.

Anonymous said...

Wow Anon...are we a bit bitter? Maybe if idiots like you weren't speeding, cops would have more time to "solve every crime" as you so tritely put it. Also, please let me know when you are in trouble and need the "tax-sucking scum IMPD" to come bail you out.

Anonymous said...

There is no such thing as "speeding," you totalitarian thug.

It's an an entirely made-up act.

If I'm ever "in trouble," I'm going to blame IMPD, because they've had over a century of effort and billions of dollars of funding to ensure that this is a safe city. How can anyone ever be "in trouble" in Indianapolis if the police have been doing their jobs for over a century?

Instead of doing their job, they're on the road, writing needless tickets, shaking down the public for revenue and assets to forfeit.

Further, the facts show that people are most likely to encounter the police because of contact initiated by the police.