Indy Council GOP offers $20M road plan, setting up battle with Hogsett

Indianapolis Republicans on Thursday introduced a proposal to spend $20 million on roads and sidewalks, using money released earlier this year by the state, setting up a showdown with Mayor Joe Hogsett and the Democrat-controlled City-County Council ahead of next month's budget vote.

After years of acrimony between the council and Republican Mayor Greg Ballard, the proposal could represent the first major legislative challenge of Hogsett's first year in office. Hogsett's Democratic Party holds just a one-seat advantage on the 25-member council, and two swing votes — one in each party — have suggested they may break with party leaders on this issue.

The Indiana General Assembly earlier this year released $52 million in local income tax money to local governments, earmarking $39 million of it for infrastructure. Republicans want to spend the $39 million on roads and sidewalks. But the Hogsett administration has proposed keeping the money in a rainy day fund in 2017 to shore up the city's dwindling reserves.

Instead, Hogsett has proposed a $50 million-a-year infrastructure plan that calls for $20 million in road bonds. That's part of a larger $75 million series of bonds for projects that include parks, two new fire stations and a public safety dispatch system.

Read more: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/29/indy-council-gop-offers-20m-road-plan-setting-up-battle-hogsett/91228724/