Dear All,
I would like to encourage you to attend one of the open houses that will be held on the Rapid Transit Proposal. There was an article in the Indianapolis Star today about these meetings (p. 3A and cont. to 10A). These meetings will give the long-range plans for Marion County. I encourage you to attend one of the meetings. The one closest to us is being held:
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Speedway Town Hall
1450 Lynhurst Drive
(Parking is behind the building off of 15th Street and you enter in the rear of the building,
which is behind St. Christopher’s Church and school)
I also have looked over the existing 2016 network and the proposed 2021 Transit Plans. From what I can tell, the difference between the 2016 and 2021 maps is the frequency of some of the existing routes. If the routes currently run every 60 minutes, in 5 years they will run every 30 minutes. I also notice that on both the northwest and west side of the County we will lose some of the streets that are currently served.
This project may go to a referendum vote on the ballot this coming November. If it passes, that means there would be an increased income tax hike of $0.25 (twenty-five cents) per $100 of earned income. The paper broke down that to cost someone who earns $39,000 annually an increase in taxes of $120 per year. You can do the math from that on what your household income is and if you would be paying more or less than $120 a year in new taxes.
I hope that many of you can attend the open house on Wednesday, March 23rd starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Speedway Town Hall. If you cannot, there are four other open houses around town. They are;
March 21st, 6 – 8 p.m. – Lawrence Administration Building, 9001 E. 59th Street, Lawrence
March 30th, 6 – 8 p.m. – Avondale Meadows YMCA, 3908 Meadows Drive
March 31st, 6 – 8 p.m. – Urban League, 777 Indiana Ave.
April 5th, 6 – 8 p.m. – Perry Township Education Center, 6548 Orinoco Ave.
It is important for you to learn as much as you can about this so that you can make an intelligent decision, if this is on the ballot, to move forward with the Rapid Transit Lines as proposed and how it will affect your taxes.
Sincerely,
Janice McHenry
City-County Councillor District 6
