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Indianapolis Star

Lawmakers usually clash with Indy over local control. Do they have a new target?

It was a quieter legislative session at the Statehouse for the city of Indianapolis this year. Just a year ago, the city and stakeholder groups contended with multiple bills targeting projects backed by Mayor Joe Hogsett, such as IndyGo's Blue Line or the downtown special taxing district. Plus lawmakers nullified an Indy ban on the sale of dogs at pet stores. The threats in the legislative proposals sometimes led to emotional moments for lawmakers and advocates who testified at the Statehouse. Not in 2025. Compared to years past, the Democratic Hogsett administration this year faced few challenges from the Republican-dominated Statehouse. Hogsett garnered a win in the state road funding bill that likely provides the city an additional $50 million in road funding starting in 2027, and for the first time in years, no anti-IndyGo bills advanced. Lawmakers also granted Hogsett's request that the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which will guide the future of Indianapolis Public Schools and local charter schools, be exempt from the state's Open Door Law. 'There were small things that didn't necessarily go our way,' said Dan Parker, Hogsett's chief of staff. 'But, overall, I think it was a very good session for the city.' Local control fights happen every year at the Statehouse, but the targets of state lawmakers this session appeared directed less at Indianapolis government and more on other parts of the state. For example, language added to the major property tax legislation closes the Union School Corporation in Randolph County in 2027, and lawmakers increased oversight over universities. Hamilton County, which is growing closer in size and diversity just north of Indianapolis, was almost singled out as well. A proposal attempted to preempt rental cap bans at the end of the session as city councils in Carmel and Fishers simultaneously considered ordinances in their communities. The rental cap language was eventually scrapped. A few of the Hamilton County mayors also became the face of the fight over how much property tax relief to provide homeowners. They pleaded their case with lawmakers and Gov. Mike Braun, with little success, to not deplete a major funding source. Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen said he felt left out of some of the Braun administration's conversations surrounding property tax reform. 'That's where we can get frustrated by our executive leaders,' Jensen said. 'It's in terms of policies that they propose without even really having conversations with growing communities to understand the impacts.' Whether it's the federal government stepping in on state government decisions or state governments intervening in the actions of cities, counties and towns, groups in power often attempt to insert themselves in decisions happening outside of their jurisdiction, said Paul Helmke, a professor at Indiana University's Paul H. O'Neill School of Public Affairs. Indianapolis and Hamilton County are especially vulnerable to the attention from state lawmakers and the governor's administration because of their roles as growing communities and proximity to the Statehouse during the legislative session, said Helmke, a former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne. 'I remember when I was mayor of Fort Wayne, we were very aggressive with annexations,' Helmke said. 'We were generally able to keep the legislature from changing it until Carmel started doing annexations and then the hammer came down." While Indianapolis, like other local governments around the state, has to contend with potential impacts of the property tax reform in SB 1, the city saw other victories during the session. Indianapolis saw a win in House Bill 1461, the road funding bill that includes tools for local governments to maximize budget dollars for roads. In a mid-April statement after lawmakers sent the bill to Braun, Hogsett called the effort, combined with road funding legislation from 2023, 'the most significant new investment from the state of Indiana into Indianapolis road infrastructure in decades.' Parker, Hogsett's chief of staff, said it was a moment of bipartisanship in working with the Republican leadership at the Statehouse and bill author state Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie. 'It was a very good session related to road funding, and that's not just for Indianapolis,' Parker said. 'I think the bill itself will prove that it's going to help a lot of cities and counties that have a lot of lane miles, which is something the mayor has advocated for for a long time.' Lawmakers did propose potential threats to IPS, including a bill that would have entirely dissolved the school district and turn it into charter schools. There were also contentious debates about how property tax revenue sharing with charter schools might impact IPS. But none of those efforts appeared to be specifically against Hogsett's administration, and Parker said Indianapolis should benefit by having the mayor chair the ILEA. 'Working together with the charter schools and the IPS district, hopefully, can come up with a plan to bring stability to the district that is the center of the city,' Parker said. In recent years, Hamilton County cities have found themselves on the same side as Indianapolis in facing local control fights on issues including bans on short-term rentals and the sale of dogs. Last year, for example, state lawmakers nullified ordinances in both Carmel and Indianapolis prohibiting pet stores from selling dogs. This session, though, language that would've squashed ordinances in Carmel and Fishers was floated at the 11th hour. The proposal would have prevented local governments from putting caps on the number of rental properties in their communities, but it was removed from the larger bill by the next morning. Fishers already passed its first-of-its kind rental cap ordinance, while Carmel's is still under consideration. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in April said the city was taken completely off-guard by the sudden legislative action that would have voided rental cap ordinances. 'Yes we were surprised,' he said. 'We had no prior knowledge this was coming, no conversations about it.' Carmel's rental cap plan: 'We want to protect our neighborhoods': Carmel tries to limit rentals with latest ordinance Jensen, in Noblesville, added that his community and others may consider similar rental cap ordinances to fend off out of state investors or bad actors from buying up homes. He said that he wasn't surprised by the legislature considering language that would have banned the ordinances all together. 'Along those lines, the government closest to the people is the one that should be the most impactful and have the most control,' Jensen said. Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam agreed with Jensen in that she doesn't feel Hamilton County was targeted by the General Assembly this session, but is always hoping for more local control on certain issues. '(We're) entrusted to run a $250 million budget, why can't we be trusted with decisions about zoning or housing or public safety or a fireworks policy ordinance,' Finkam said. 'I want us in the city to have as much local control as possible every single time.' Finkam added that the property tax reform, and other high-profile legislation passed this session, impacted the entire state and not just Hamilton County. The Carmel mayor said she's hoping cities can gain more control over regulation of short-term rentals, such as AirBnBs, with future legislation. In Westfield, mayor Scott Willis agreed that he wished for more collaboration when it came to Senate Bill 1. 'If we're going to be making large, big changes in how municipal finance works more collaboration would be good,' Willis said. 'Most of the folks have never sat in our seats. I've never sat in their seats, so I try not to judge them.' The Westfield mayor said he's concerned about future proposals from state lawmakers that could impact local control, including the resurrection of a proposal that would have moved municipal elections to presidential election years. 'The issues that I face as mayor have nothing to do with what the president of the United States is dealing with,' Willis said. 'We'd be so far down ballot, and I'd be answering questions around abortion in Westfield and immigration laws in Westfield, which we all know the city has zero play in.' Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.