By now you’ve likely heard about Gov. Eric Holcomb’s announcement that Indiana taxpayers will receive refunds of $125 apiece. Mind you, this isn’t a product of the governor’s generosity. It’s due to the state treasury hoarding so much excess taxpayer cash that the overflowing treasure chest triggered mandatory refunds. In other words, legally, the state had no choice.
It’s nice the state is releasing back to taxpayers enough money for a couple of tanks of gas and maybe a Happy Meal or two. But Indiana is projected to have a budget surplus of about $5 billion. This refund equals about 10 percent of that embarrassment of riches. So now, after the refunds, the state’s projected surplus will only be about $4.5 billion. How ever will they manage?
According to Forbes, four other states whose cups runneth also over have approved tax refunds. Georgia and New Mexico’s refunds, Forbes reports, are double those Indiana will give back to Hoosiers who’ve overpaid. Indiana could match that, double the announced refunds to $250 per person, and still hoard an absurdly high $4 billion.
A rainy day fund is one thing. But state government should not sit atop a king’s ransom if it has no intention of using it to fund services. This is not the state’s money. Lawmakers could have and should have realized that taxpayers deserve more of their money back, especially now, with inflation running at historic highs.
Surely when this Republican supermajority legislature reconvenes for a veto session on Technical Correction Day on May 24, they can find the ways and means to make a “technical correction” and refund taxpayers more of the hard-earned money they are due.
Ivy Tech nursing expansion meets key need
The pandemic strained health care systems nearly to the breaking point, and no one felt the stress and strain more than nurses. They are vital to our health care, and a nursing shortage that existed before COVID is even more dire now.
Realizing this, Indiana University Health granted $8.75 million to Ivy Tech Community College to expand nursing programs and enrollment across the state. Locally, the grant will add 20 new openings at the Columbus campus by 2025 for students seeking an associate’s degree.
Now, the challenge now is finding qualified nursing instructors.
Nurses are the backbone of our health care system. This investment by IU Health recognizes the key role nurses play. It’s also a sign to those who are thinking about studying and training for a career in nursing that your help is critically needed, and it will be for many years to come.
Big projects developing downtown
City officials and private developers broke ground Thursday on a $41 million apartment complex that also has plans for an urban grocer. The Taylor, as the development being built by Flaherty & Collins is called, will feature 200 apartments at the southeast corner of Second Street and Lafayette Avenue.
The project’s ceremonial start comes just as another downtown project is getting underway and a third is in the approval stage. It’s an exciting time to witness the momentum in our city’s core.
Work on the 1821 Trail, a legacy piece of the city’s bicentennial celebration, has begun. The trail extension will run along First Street, linking the Haw Creek Trail at Lafayette Avenue to Water Street. This new section is positioned to become a focal point of Columbus’ 27-mile People Trail.
Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments through April 27 about the city’s proposed riverfront project. The corps is determining whether permit a plan that, among other things, would remove the unsafe lowhead dam from the East Fork White River between Second and Third Streets, repair erosion, install a stone in-river recreation structure and improve water flow so that the river’s level at flood-prone Mill Race Park is stabilized.
The riverfront plan seems like a good one to us, but if you have thoughts about it and would like to comment to the Army Corps of Engineers, now is the time to have your say. You can learn more about this plan and comment at lrl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/.
