October 2009 Entries
Thursday Oct. 29, 2009
Property tax bills for 2009 have been mailed, a nice Halloween scare.
In this coming Sunday's Elkhart Truth, tentatively, I break down a typical homeowner's property tax bill, showing how much the applicable city, school district, library system and township get, as well as Elkhart County's share. Here, I've broken down the comparable amount — by school district, city and library system — that the owner of a $100,000 home would have to pay.
All things being equal — I use the example of an owner of a $100,000 home and only factor the standard...
Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009
A new look is coming to the Indiana Avenue Bridge in Goshen. That's the distinctive iron-trussed crossing — also called the Fort Wayne Street Bridge — that goes over the Elkhart River, just north of the Old Bag Factory.
The bridge, built in 1898 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now green. Flaking green in some spots, actually, accented by rust. But as part of a planned upgrade, it will be sandblasted and repainted a reddish/brown color, matching the brick on the Old Bag Factory.
“As near as we can tell,...
Friday Oct. 23, 2009
A home’s assessed value, the applicable deductions and the pertinent tax rate are the three key factors in calculating a homeowner's property tax bill.
Below are the overall tax rates (just recently pinned down) for Elkhart County's varied taxing districts and the full 2009 estimated property tax, in descending order by taxing district, for someone owning a $100,000 home who's entitled to just the homestead deduction. Look and see where you fit in the mix of things.
That's followed by an explanation of how the tax rate and other data come together to determine individual...
Friday Oct. 16, 2009
Introducing high-speed rail across northern Indiana wouldn't necessarily draw huge numbers, at least relative to those traveling by car. The American public loves its autos.
Still, projections put forth by the Indiana Department of Transportation indicate that train use would jump considerably compared to current figures.
INDOT announced this week that it had sought $2.82 billion in federal stimulus funding to pay for a high-speed rail network stretching from Chicago to Cleveland. Look here. It would possibly pass through Elkhart County on its way across Indiana, though a more southerly corridor through Fort Wayne is...
Thursday Oct. 8, 2009
There are all sorts of taxes out there - on income, sales and gas, just to name a few. Now here's another to consider - a mileage tax.
Typically the money to fix and build roadways comes from gas tax revenue, that is, a tax at the pump on each gallon of gas purchased. But with the public more energy conscious, buying hybrid cars and other autos that use less gas or scaling back their driving altogether, the pot of money has been shrinking. Some worry the trend will continue, threatening the ability to maintain...
Tuesday Oct. 6, 2009
I got flipped off the other day over at the rat patrol's picket site near C.R. 17.
I was inspecting the group's 12-foot, inflatable rat, clawing out at C.R. 17 just south of Six Span Bridge, when this trucker honks. I look over and he's practically reaching out the passenger side window, flying the bird.
Apparently that's one of the hazards faced by the rat patrol — aka Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers — when group reps are out picketing. Sometimes they get honks and waves of support, but other...
Monday Oct. 5, 2009
Elkhart County Transportation Manager Jeff Taylor's trip last Thursday to Washington to meet with federal lawmakers didn't turn out being that dramatic, it seems.
He was one of a handful of witnesses called to address the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on implementation of the federal economic stimulus package. The committee is overseeing whether stimulus money is going where it should, creating jobs.
Sounds like pretty exciting, heady stuff - going to the hallowed halls of Congress, meeting with the nation's power brokers and offering up THE TRUTH so wrongs can...
Sunday Oct. 4, 2009
Jeff Taylor, Elkhart County's transportation manager, went to the nation's capital late last week with a message. Distribution here of economic stimulus money meant to help upgrade the nation's roads and create jobs is too slow.
Background: He's expressed the view before. But this time his audience was the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The venue was a hearing the body called last Thursday to look into implementation of the federal stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The problem: There's “an enormous amount of paperwork” required to tap into...
Saturday Oct. 3, 2009
Gussying up the roads around the American Countryside Farmers Market south of Elkhart cost around $6 million, most of that from Elkhart County coffers.
In response to plans for the massive barn-like market and the traffic it was expected to generate, the county, working with the Indiana Department of Transportation, upgraded the adjacent roadways. American Countryside is located east of S.R. 19 on C.R. 26.
To wit, C.R. 26 was widened into a broad, divided boulevard in parts between C.R. 7 and a point just west of S.R. 19. S.R. 19, meanwhile, saw the addition...