By Eric Bradner, Evansville Courier & Press
bradnere@courierpress.com
INDIANAPOLIS - It's nothing personal, but no way.
That's what Gov. Mitch Daniels essentially said about Village Earth, the educational attraction developers want to build in rural northern Warrick County.
A team wants state lawmakers to let them capture more than $150 million in sales tax revenue from the hotels, restaurants and retailers it believes would crop up around the indoor-outdoor combination museum and aquarium in order to pay for the facility's construction.
Asked whether he would agree to such a funding mechanism, Daniels simply said: "No. We don't do that."
He explained that it's not the project itself that gives him pause. It's the precedent of creating a sales tax increment finance district to pay for it. If this one is approved, he said, others with ideas they can't pay for would come out of the woodwork.
To counter, Village Earth's proponents point out that residents of Marion County and the counties that surround it pay a 1 percent higher sales tax to pay for Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
Republicans such as Daniels, Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley and Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Chairman Brandt Hershman say that's not money being taken away from the state. Sales tax dollars that would be captured to pay for Village Earth, however, would otherwise head into state coffers.
Village Earth's supporters say the piece of reclaimed mining ground won't be generating any sales tax money anyway as it is, but that's where Republican leaders return to their argument that it would set an unreasonable precedent.
Sputtering proposals
Village Earth was one of several closely watched bills that sputtered in the General Assembly last week. Among the others:
The one gambling-related proposal with a strong chance to become law this year would have allowed Indiana's 13 casinos to move ashore. But lawmakers were surprised when lobbyists from the Casino Association of Indiana told them nine of those 13 casinos opposed that proposal.
Initially, the idea of land-based gaming gained steam because legislators sought to protect the casino industry that pumps in $800 million per year in tax revenue from rising competition in Ohio and Michigan.
But riverboats that recently have ponied up the cash to make improvements said doing so would give other in-state casinos an unfair advantage.
Lawmakers were miffed when casino lobbyists said they'd prefer to wait until next year, when tax incentives might be available. Kenley said he's lost interest in what those casinos have to say.
Republican Party infighting seemed ready to derail Daniels' proposal to stop schools from "socially promoting" third-graders who struggle to read on to the fourth grade.
According to a fiscal impact statement produced by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, the bill would cost as much as $49 million. That's why Kenley, whose committee is the next to act on the bill, balked when asked whether he would give it a hearing.
But Daniels and Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Bennett said it shouldn't cost schools any extra penny, since all they'd be doing is redirecting funds they already receive.
Who's right and who's wrong probably doesn't matter. House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said if the bill ever reaches his chamber, it's probably dead on arrival.
Environmental activists have long argued for the expansion of Indiana's net metering policy, which currently allows homeowners and schools to be credited by utility companies for producing as much as 10 kilowatts of their own renewable power - enabling low-end users to roll their electric bills back close to zero.
For several weeks, it's looked like they'll get at least a little of what they want.
But an amendment tacked onto a Senate bill last week rendered the advances proponents hoped were coming essentially useless, they said.
The amendment, added to his own bill by Sen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, would prevent ratepayers from being credited in future months if they produce more than the limit.