In this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun addresses this issue and more at City Hall. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU. Here are some highlights.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: I wanted to start more nationally, globally, with this attack on Iran. I know this has meaning to you not only as mayor, but someone who has served.
Sakbun: I'll start personally, as well as academically. During my time at Indiana University as a member of the Army ROTC program, I participated in a global program that the military is a part of, where you learn languages and cultures of other regions to help future military enlisted and officers.
The country that I really studied was Iran really Persian Farsi. So I'm fairly familiar with the dynamics and what's going on the last 40 years, and I think a couple of different things can be true at the same time.
When the Supreme Leader was assassinated, he was a state sponsor of terrorism, multiple decades that he's created conflict, not just in the Middle East, across the globe. I think you can accept the fact that he needed to be removed from the battlefield.
But in that same breath, you can also accept that the United States of America has launched itself into this war with Israel. And over up to two weeks now, we're still hearing conflicting statements and goals from the Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as the president United States, Donald Trump. What are our goals? How are we going to accomplish them? How are we going to finance them?
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Because it seems like just a few months ago, we didn't have the money to extend ACA subsidies for Medicaid. We didn't have the funding to help out with Medicare. We didn't have the funding to help continue some of the infrastructure programs started under the Biden administration. So when I hear hey, we don't have money, we got to cut and then I see a government continue to add to the deficit year after year I really question, hey, what is the plan here? And how are we going to fund the plan?
Hren: Indiana lawmakers wrapped up at the state house about a couple weeks ago. Did you see any help coming in any tax formula relief to Indiana cities and towns that you were hoping for?
Sakbun: It has to do with road funding. The bill that was passed prevents someone who lives in the city from paying a county and city wheel tax. It eliminates double taxation. I have never enacted a wheel tax in the city of Terre Haute and it prevents us from being eligible for additional state dollars.
And the reason why I've never done it is because I don't believe in double taxation. Now, if the city has a wheel tax take $20 because that's what our county's wheel tax is. A city resident pays just the $20 from the city instead of paying $40 under the old legislation.
Also the 2025 Senate Enrollment Act One gets signed. Alright, city, county, you have your own local option income. Now we all have the opportunity, from now until, I believe, October 1, 2026, to create, essentially a municipal, local income tax council.
The local income tax council can essentially say our county will choose one single income tax rate that everyone in the county will pay, and here's how it's doled out to the municipalities, the cities, the townships, the fire districts. That is great, because if we pursue that method, regardless of what ZIP code you live in, it is one even income tax rate.
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Hren: I just came across an article from a Vigo County Oversight Committee having meetings regarding using community funds for the school system. Of course, a lot of that is restricted. How would that work?
Sakbun: I think it's a creative way to address the problem that public education corporations are facing across the state of Indiana. Under the state formula, you've got your school corporation dollars, your county dollars, your city dollars. What we've done is through state legislation is a program where an oversight committee can be responsible for taking private dollars or another, taxing units dollars and overseeing a capital project.
Why would we ever do this? Right? Here's a few reasons why. One, instead of pushing more property tax referendums, let's find a way to use other dollars being collected or in the community to fix or update or even build new schools instead of asking the taxpayers for more.
Here's where these oversight committees will run into issues. One of the benefits of a referendum is everyone agrees on that plan because they went and they voted. They said no to a referendum. We don't want to pay more in taxes to fix our three high schools. Couple of years went by, planning went by and they said, okay, let's move to two high schools.
Well, a lot of folks are frustrated with that plan, and now they're frustrated with the oversight community committee. And my personal frustration through all of this is, well, if we said no to three high schools, now we're going to say no to two high schools.
I am happy to see there is a vehicle created to take outside dollars, bring them into a school corporation and potentially upgrade buildings. That is a positive. We should celebrate that just as much as we debate where those dollars now go.
Hren: New report from the Indiana Capital Chronicle outlines tolling on I-70 through Terre Haute, we talked about it last month, but more details are coming out.
Sakbun: $15 bucks to drive from one side to the other side of the state on I-70 is quite a lot of money. We are anxiously awaiting the State Department of Transportation's involvement with some public town hall style sessions. We'd love to hear their thoughts behind the plan.
I have personal questions as well. And do I believe that this is the right plan as of today? No, I mean, I want to see more information from the state before we toll I-70. Lot of folks have been calling the mayor's office saying, hey, why are we building a new highway to Jasper when we're not addressing Interstate 70.
I will say the governor has been very good at communicating to me that this process is going to start in terms of the informational process, and we look forward to that.
Hren: I see a portion of First Street is now Riverside Road.
Sakbun: The portion is under a lot of construction. We've got a lot of private water company projects going in. We've got another contract that Indiana American Water is going through to address PFAs, chemicals forever, chemicals in water and Riverside Road.
It's also representative of some of the public private partnerships that we're hoping to announce in the future to see more development in and around the Wabash River. Obviously, the YMCA is a big project and how we're looking forward to, hopefully some multi use buildings in the next couple of years.
