- David Giffel
Fishers City Budget Transparency
My view of all taxing authorities budget. I believe this presentation to be true and will edit it should I discover any errors.
The following are Budget presentations from Public Meetings for anyone wanting to dive deep. Finance Committee October 04, 2023 (Presentation)
Finance Committee September 13, 2023 (Video) Finance Committee Meeting September 11, 2023 (Video)
City Council Meeting September 18, 2023, 1st Reading. (Starts at 9:15 Video) City Council Meeting August 21, 2023, Mayor Presentation (Starts at 26:00 Video)
How Much of Your Local Property & Local Taxable Income (LIT) Does Fishers Recieve? I calculated about 25% of the local property, and LIT returned to the City of Fishers.
Fishers will collect about $147 million in all Non-TIF taxes. (ALL FUNDS but Utilities)
* TIF is below
Fishers Budgeted Spending City of Fishers budget is balanced. However, Fishers had over $50 million in reserves due to a "make-up" payment for the unfair LIT distribution formula. Fishers will receive a make-up payment in 2024. Fishers will spend about $12 million in cash surplus from a make-up of the LIT pot.
Fishers Debt We view debt in different ways.
1) Debt Principle – Principle only (I don't have this data) View this as if you wanted to repay your current mortgage or car loan TODAY. Credit is a way to improve your quality of life today and pay as you go.
2) Debt Obligation – The total debt paid with interest into the future. View Debit Obligation as if you totaled up all the payments you made on your mortgage over 30 years. Some people will use this as a way to frighten others.
3) Annual Payments – Cash needed to service the debt.
Cities work on a cash basis or the ability to make a debt payment. The payment is expected to be around $28 million in 2024.
2024 debt spending does not include Fishers Event Center because it mainly uses Sales Taxes, PILOT from Sewer fees, Operational Revenue from events, and a small amount from cumulative property taxes. With current spending commitments, the future debt payments will be this. As older debt falls off, the payments are lower. This chart shows the current committed debt annual payments related to property tax rates.
TAX RATES Tax Rate = Debt Payment/Total Net Assessed Values per $100. As Net Assessed values increase, the Debt tax rate will drop. The following is what we estimate based on today's spending. This includes the Planned Community Center but not SR 37 141st interchange. I also included the General Fund and Other Tax Rate projections.
Bond Ratings Recently, you might have read about Fishers Bond Rating moving from AAA to AA+ and AA. The reason is our lower rating is directly related to the economic uncertainty, spending on purchasing the sewer utility, the new government building, the event center, and the planned community center. A recession doesn't pose a major risk to most muni issuers. Fishers bonds are rated by S&P. "Issuers or issues rated AA demonstrate very strong creditworthiness relative to other U.S. municipal or tax-exempt issuers or issues." The new rating does not change former bonds sold, only future debt. A lower bond rating typically is higher interest rates. The difference between an AAA and AA interest payment is very small.
Economic Development When Fishers approves an incentive for developments by selling a bond, your tax rate does not change. I'm Still working on this subject - coming soon.