logo
Potholes are bankrupting Indianapolis. New state funding won't help.

Potholes are bankrupting Indianapolis. New state funding won't help.

A lot of folks are celebrating the passage of House Bill 1461, which gives Indianapolis access to up to $50 million in additional state road funding. But before we pop the champagne, let's be honest: This bill doesn't solve our problem. It puts lipstick on a pig.
HB 1461 provides two funding paths. First, it allows the city to raise the local wheel tax, but Indianapolis isn't maxing out the current rate and Mayor Joe Hogsett's administration has previously said it won't raise the wheel tax.
Second, the bill offers $50 million in state money, but only if the city can match it with new revenue. There's a catch: That match can't come from existing infrastructure or public safety budgets, which already make up most of the city's spending. So, we'd have to either defund other services or raise taxes. And, even then, the money can't be used on greenways, sidewalks or bike lanes to reduce our oversized streets.
In other words, we're being asked to double down on the same overbuilt, underfunded road network that got us here in the first place.
A lot of road and little to no return
The real issue in Indianapolis isn't that we spend too little on roads; it's that we've built too many of them. We've stretched infrastructure across a landscape that doesn't generate enough tax revenue to support it.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
This started decades ago. In the 1970s and '80s, the city expanded rapidly under Unigov, pouring money into widening arterials like Shadeland and Emerson avenues. But the development that followed, mostly low-density, single-use housing, doesn't pay the bills.
Take a single-family home on a large lot. It needs roads, sewers, water, streetlights, trash pickup, fire protection and maybe even a school bus stop. But it only contributes a few thousand dollars a year in property taxes, nowhere near enough to cover the costs of service.
Multiply that pattern citywide and you get the math problem: long-term infrastructure liabilities that are not supported by surrounding properties. The way we've built is financially imprudent.
Now, imagine that same parcel with an attached duplex or a micro-retail store or small apartment. Same infrastructure, more tax revenue. More people helping to pay for the street they use. Less long-term maintenance liability.
Instead of encouraging this kind of efficient growth, our zoning code locks over 80% of Indianapolis into low-return land uses. In most of Marion County, it's still illegal to build anything but a single-family house. That's a policy choice and it's bankrupting our city one pothole at a time.
A broken tax system makes it worse
Just as our costs are ballooning, our ability to raise money is shrinking.
Earlier this year, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1, capping property tax revenue growth for local governments. It's a budget squeeze that will hit every city in the state, but especially one like Indianapolis, already struggling to pay for the system it has.
Indiana uses a three-tier property tax cap: roughly 1% for owner-occupied homes, 2% for rentals and farmland, and 3% for commercial and mixed-use properties. But, because we zone so much of the city for low-yield residential use, we're blocking the higher-return development that could help fund our streets, parks and public safety.
Urban3's land-use analysis conducted for IndyGo showed this clearly: most parcels in Indianapolis cost more to serve than they return in taxes. Our property tax ecosystem makes that imbalance worse.
So, here's the question: Is saving $300 on your tax bill really worth blowing a tire every spring?
The funding formula is pitted against us
Even if we could fix our land-use and tax system overnight, we'd still be fighting an uphill battle because Indiana funds roadwork in a fundamentally flawed way.
The state allocates money based on lane miles, not traffic volume. So, a four-lane arterial in Indy is treated the same as a two-lane local road in Kokomo. That encourages overbuilding and punishes efficient design.
Indianapolis is funded as if it has about 3,300 lane miles, but in reality we maintain more than 8,000. That's 5,000 miles of road we're responsible for, with no funding to back it up.
HB 1461 doesn't fix this. It just patches over the gap without asking why the hole exists.
We need a smarter way forward
If a household is struggling to pay its bills, it has two options: Make more money, or reduce expenses. Cities are no different.
We can't just keep paving our way out of this. Raising taxes is politically unpopular, and cutting roads sparks backlash. But there's a third option: Allow property owners to do more with their land.
When we let people build more housing, small businesses or mixed-use projects, we get more value out of the infrastructure we already have. That's revenue without raising tax rates and growth without adding costs. HB 1461 simply treats the symptoms and not the disease.
Hicks Braun cut taxes for businesses, but most Hoosiers will pay more
The administration has said it isn't concerned about what's in the bill; only that it's passed. That's not good enough. We need to ask why we're in this hole in the first place. HB 1461 solves the short-term funding issue by throwing more money at an inefficient system and then makes it illegal to change that system. Then, it takes away the flexibility we need to grow smarter.
If we're serious about fixing our roads, we need to fix our development code too. That means liberalizing zones, simplifying permitting, and encouraging land uses that pull their financial weight that justify and support our roadways.
We need to stop treating infrastructure as a cost to absorb and start treating it like an investment that has to earn a return.
HB 1461 feels like throwing money down a well expecting to get water — you lose your money, and you're still left with a giant hole.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Is Trump in the Epstein files? Before Bondi's reported alert, here is where he appeared
Is Trump in the Epstein files? Before Bondi's reported alert, here is where he appeared

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Is Trump in the Epstein files? Before Bondi's reported alert, here is where he appeared

Fallout over Jeffrey Epstein has been propelled by reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that he was mentioned in the criminal case files. The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported on July 23 that anonymous sources said Bondi told Trump his name appeared multiple times, along with other figures, in the government's files on the late financier indicted on sex trafficking charges. (Being named in the files does not mean he engaged in criminal activity, and a White House official denied wrongdoing, USA TODAY previously reported.) Bondi's Justice Department on July 7 released a memo saying no further disclosure of the documents was needed after teasing a "truckload" of Epstein files in March. In a rare moment of discord among Trump's supporters, many Republicans have pushed for more transparency around the files. 'The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung previously said. "This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about." But criminal investigations into Epstein spanned nearly 15 years, and Trump had already appeared in some evidence that has been made public. Here is what to know: See the list: Which MAGA supporters is Trump calling 'weaklings' over Epstein files? Is Donald Trump's name in the Epstein files? Trump had already appeared in legal documents concerning Epstein's crimes, but never in a way that implicates him. In the 1990s, Trump rode on aircraft owned by Epstein, according to flight logs released in two lawsuits. But that was 30-plus years ago. In Palm Beach County state attorney documents, an image of a message pad communication seized in a Palm Beach police search appeared, but there is nothing more than Trump's name and a phone number. Florida court has rejected the administration's call to unseal documents A federal judge in Florida on July 23 denied the Department of Justice's move to unseal grand jury transcripts from a federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein as part of the first criminal case against him. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg, formerly a circuit court judge in Palm Beach County, said in a memo on July 23 that her "hands were tied" and that the DOJ hadn't shown sufficient evidence to release transcripts related to a federal investigation of Epstein in the 2000s. The material sought in Rosenberg's court involved a 2006-08 federal investigation of Epstein that never resulted in an indictment. Part of the infamous "deal of the century," in which Epstein pleaded guilty to two state-court, prostitution-related charges, said that if Epstein followed the agreement that the federal charges would be dropped. Two other requests for related grand jury testimony are still pending in a Manhattan federal court. When was Epstein caught and first charged? A police investigation into Epstein began in March 2005 after a woman from the Palm Beach area in Florida said her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been molested by a wealthy man. In July 2006, Epstein was indicted by a state grand jury on a felony charge of soliciting prostitution, which did not address the 14-year-old victim's age. He was arrested and spent one night in Palm Beach County jail, released the next day on $3,000 bond. Epstein signed a non-prosecution agreement that was called the "deal of the century." He pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, where he was allowed work leave privileges six days a week/12 hours a day over the 13 months he served. When he was released from jail, he spent a year on house arrest but was allowed to travel anywhere so long as he returned in 24 hours. What was Epstein convicted of? Epstein never sat for trial, but he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution in 2008 in Florida. He was also a registered sex offender. He died in 2019, before he could be tried for sex trafficking charges in New York. He was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell, and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Trump himself has cast doubt on Epstein's death. Contributing: Joey Garrison and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@ Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Trump in the Epstein files? What we knew before Bondi told Trump Solve the daily Crossword

The White House is feuding with ‘The View.' Here's why.
The White House is feuding with ‘The View.' Here's why.

USA Today

time6 hours ago

  • USA Today

The White House is feuding with ‘The View.' Here's why.

From late-night show hosts to the animated sitcom South Park, the feud between President Donald Trump and the entertainment industry shows no signs of slowing down. Now the administration finds itself in a dispute with ABC's 'The View' after a White House spokesperson suggested the long-time talk show could be coming to an end. The comment comes after CBS canceled late-night comedy 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' after 33 years, a decision Trump celebrated on social media. During a July 23 episode, co-host Joy Behar said Trump is jealous of former President Barack Obama because 'Obama is everything that he is not.' She added that, unlike Trump, Obama is 'trim, smart, handsome, happily married, and can sing Al Green's song 'Let's Stay Together' better than Al Green. And Trump cannot stand it. It's driving him crazy.' Following the dig, White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers referred to Behar as 'an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.' 'It's no surprise that The View's ratings hit an all-time low last year. She should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump's historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air,' Rogers said in a statement. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives of 'The View' for comment on Rogers' statement. When asked for a comment on behalf of Behar, her manager Bill Stankey told USA TODAY, 'On behalf of me……..Release the Epstein files.' In May, Attorney General Pam Bondi had reportedly told Trump that his name appears several times throughout the criminal case files on the late financier and convicted sex offender Epstein, according to CNN and the Wall Street Journal. How did this start? The latest tension between the White House and 'The View' started after an Oval Office meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos on July 22, when Trump accused Obama of treason. The president called the Democrat a 'ringleader,' adding that his actions were 'seditious.' Later that day, Obama addressed a July 18 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that claimed the former president 'manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup' against Trump's presidential victory against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Obama also said he supported the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election. He dismissed the allegations against him, calling them the typical 'nonsense and misinformation' emerging from the Trump White House. On the next morning's episode of 'The View,' Behar defended Obama with a sly remark against Trump regarding the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. 'First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6? Who was that again? That was not Obama,' she quipped. Late-night talk show hosts also make jabs at Trump Before the beef with Behar, Trump was at odds with his usual late-night foes, starting with Colbert, who during a July 17 episode announced that 'The Late Show' would be ending in May 2026. 'I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' Trump wrote on Truth Social July 18. He later made a jab at ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, insinuating that his show would be the next to end and that he 'has even less talent than Colbert.' Kicking off his July 21 episode monologue, Colbert asked, 'How dare you, sir?' 'Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go (expletive) yourself,' Colbert said. Trump fired back on a July 22 Truth Social post, writing: 'The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, (Jimmy) Fallon will be gone.' 'These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!' the president wrote. Fallon's show is slated to continue until at least the end of 2028 when his contract with NBCUniversal ends. In 2022, Kimmel extended his contract through his show's current 23rd season. Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY

The details of Columbia's extraordinary $220 million deal with Trump
The details of Columbia's extraordinary $220 million deal with Trump

USA Today

time7 hours ago

  • USA Today

The details of Columbia's extraordinary $220 million deal with Trump

From academics to admissions, here's what the Ivy League school agreed to. WASHINGTON – Columbia University just inked a deal with President Donald Trump that's unlike any other in the history of American higher education. The 22-page agreement, meant to address accusations by Trump that Columbia has violated federal laws, is sweeping. Changes to admissions, academic departments, campus security and hiring are all hammered out in it. In return, the deal eases the extraordinary pressure the school has faced since March. Hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding will begin flowing again. Other federal probes, including ones that jeopardized the school's access to financial aid, will cease. For the first time, the accord sets a definitive price tag for a U.S. college to assuage the Trump administration, which has made no secret of its disdain for many universities, especially the richest and most selective ones. For Columbia, the cost of mollifying Trump was steep. Claire Shipman, the university's president, agreed the school would pay a $200 million fine to resolve funding disputes, plus an additional $21 million designated for university employees who said they'd faced discrimination or harm amid campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war. Read more: How Columbia University became the epicenter of disagreement over the Israel-Hamas war Here are some of the details of the deal: "This was a really, really complex problem," Shipman told CNN the morning after she made the announcement. "I will argue over and over again that choosing to listen, choosing to try to solve the problem with everything that we had at stake is not capitulation." President Trump and Linda McMahon, his education secretary, have touted the agreement, saying it addresses years of conservative grievances with higher education – and offers a blueprint for future deals with campuses facing similar scrutiny. Read more: After $220 million Columbia deal, Trump promises more to come "Columbia's reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate," McMahon said in a statement following the resolution. "I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come." Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @ Veronica Bravo is USA TODAY's graphics art director

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store