If  you thought the floods and rains that hit south central Indiana were bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Marion County lawmakers got a briefing tonight on the property reconciliation bills that are going out this week and when it’s all said and done homeowners will wish their property was under 10 feet of water.

According to one lawmaker, “this is not going to be pretty.”

The briefing was conducted by Marion County Treasurer Mike Rodman.  Residents will see very little, if any relief in most cases.

The lawmaker, who asked not to be identified said, “the people who were the most vocal last summer will be the ones who see the least amount of relief.”

And to add insult to injury, only one-third of  Marion County residents pay their property taxes through escrow, the rest just pay their bills as they get them in the mail.

To date 200,000 reconciliation bills have gone out.  The rest will go out later in the week.

One section of Marion County that saw 90 percent increases in their bills will now see 70 percent.

It also appears the two largest culprits for the tax increases are schools and the failure of local lawmakers to phase in a replacement of the inventory tax.

And just to add insult to injury,  I’m told the township assessors did not fully comply with the Department of Local Government and Finance Rules so the property tax bills which are slated to come out in October and December will also be estimates so there will be another reconciliation bill waiting for you next year.

More details are yet to come, but from I understand this going to get real ugly real quick.

As Indiana deals with some of the worst flooding in nearly 100 years, here are some things to ponder.

1.  Hoosiers who don’t have flood insurance; some who didn’t live on a flood plain and others who tried to get flood insurance, but it wasn’t offered in their area.

2.  As waters recede, the potential for mosquitoes and West Nile virus increase.

3.  The possibility of more rain.

Just some things to think about in the wake of the worst flood in 100 years.

As Indiana deals with some of the worst flooding in decades, I have to give credit to state and local responders for “keeping their heads above water” in all this. There is a lot a good coordination taking place across the state and last I checked there was only one fatality and one person missing (keep checking Newstalk 1430 for updates). To be honest, I am surprised there were not more.

On Saturday there was report after report of people who drove around barricades on flooded streets who later had to be rescued from standing water. I honestly don’t know what part of “don’t drive through standing water” do some people not understand. I had a state trooper tell me a story about an idiot who tried to make it by a viaduct on Emerson Avenue in Indianapolis and ended up getting stuck under the viaduct and nearly drowning. The problem with natural disasters is usually the civilians who don’t pay attention the news and tread where wise men refuse to follow.

Maybe the state and local governments should start sending these people bills. I’m not talking about someone caught in a set of circumstances beyond their control, but if you through your own folly end up somewhere you have no business being and then state and local officials have to come bail you out, the least the government can do is send you a bill. Maybe that you will make you think twice next time, but at least because of first responders, you will get to have a next time.

A lot of water, no casualties so far as parts of Indiana continue to deal with flooding after heavy rains over the past 24 hours.   Governor Mitch Daniels has declared a state of emergency in Johnson and Morgan Counties.  He says both state police and the National Guard have been responding to assistance.  And even the U.S. Coast Guard has lent the state two helicopters in the event they are needed for search and rescue operations.

State officials say sections of Terre Haute and West Terre Haute have also been hit hard and with the possibility of rain in the north, more problems could be expected.  The floods have also threatened private dams in Johnson County.  Daniels also said that state agencies are working well together and it has the logistics and financial resources to deal with this natural disaster.

To date the National Guard has opened shelters for flood victims in Bloomington, Danville and Martinsville. 

The Governor reiterated the call for motorists to stay off the roads in flooded areas.

As Hillary Clinton formally exits the Presidential race today, John McCain is scheduled to come to Indiana next month. I’m told McCain will be here for a lunchtime fundraiser on July 1. It will be at the Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. McCain was last here in February for a town hall meeting and fundraising event. Ironically it was on the 22nd, which is George Washington’s birthday.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch used to have a catch phrase, “How am I doin’?”   He would ask that question to New Yorkers in just about any venue in an effort to gauge public reaction to job as Mayor.  

I bring this up because June is the sixth month of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s time in office.  So I figured it would be nice to give the Mayor an evaluation.

For now, I give the Mayor a “B+”. 

He gets high marks for getting back control of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, getting the state to pick up a number of levies (pre-1977 police pension, child welfare, indigent health care), he also got the 2012 Super Bowl and we are seeing serious decreases in crime.  For all that, I give Mr. Ballard an “A.”

Where I think the Mayor falls short is when comes to being political.  The Mayor is not a political guy and doesn’t like to play politics.  He is about getting things done and doing the right thing.  Admirable qualities, of course.  But the the curse of being a big city mayor is knowing how to play the game and building the political infrastructure necessary to govern. 

I’m not saying you fill city hall with unqualified hacks.  That doesn’t do anyone any good.  What I am saying is that all things being equal, you hire your friends and allies, because they have as much to lose as you do.   So  for not using his vast political arsenal, but still putting good people in city hall, he gets a “B-”

So if you take the “A” for accomplishments, which 70 percent of the job and combine it with the “B-” for the political side of the job which is 30 percent, Greg Ballard gets a “B+”.

Going, Going, almost Gone

After finally being hit with a cold bucket of reality, Hillary’s Presidential campaign is melting away and her departure cannot come soon enough.   Although I would like to think of her as gone and forgotten, that will not be happening unfortunately.  I still see her trying to angle a VP spot.  Hopefully there is some retired general who will be more than happy to take her place.

Crime & Punishment

If you think crime is down in Indianapolis, you’re right.  The latest crime stats (as of May 18) show decreases in robbery and burglary.  The number of homicides were the same, but key indicator, aggravated assaults saw a double-digit percentage drop.  That number is important because had someone’s aim been better the aggravated assault would have turned into a murder.  Mayor Greg Ballard credits the dropped to reorganizing the police department and incresaed work with neighborhoods.

Young at Heart

If Jill Long Thompson is still in the market for a Southern Indiana Democrat to nominate as Lt. Governor, Senate Minority Leader Richard Young (D-Milltown) will gladly take the job, if asked.   Former House Speaker John Gregg and Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel have both said “no.”  Young says he would be happy to campaign with Thompson saying she is a formidable candidate and will work hard to defeat Mitch Daniels.

Barack Obama is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency of the United States.  Say what you will about his policies or disagree with his politics, but America made history tonight.  For the first time an African-American has been nominated to head a major political party for the most important job in the world.  Something like this happening was unheard of when my father was my age, and never even imagined during my grandfather’s time.

You have to think about this as a country, when it comes to race, this shows we have made a ton of progress.  We still have some ways to go in some areas, but at least for now, we all have an opportunity to see history be made.  At the very least, you have to feel good about that.

Now the campaign can begin in earnest.

Despite my best efforts, my significant other and I made it back from the wilderness in one piece. Now granted, I will admit that as I headed south I was expecting something out of the “The Hills Have Eyes, but no Teeth.” Fortunately, I was wrong. I met really nice people and in fact, not only did I have a good time, overall, I learned a few things. Here they are.

10. Rubbing sticks together won’t help you light your cigar.

9. Godiva chocolate is good for smores, but it melts over an open flame.

8. No matter what the signs say, everything is at least 30 minutes away from where you are.

7. True irony is when your cabin is adjacent to a petting zoo and the donkeys keep you up all night making noise.  Although I’m not sure which one was for Clinton and which one Obama.

6. When you are in the woods, you cannot complain about the insects. They were there first.

5. If you find a cell phone signal, don’t move an inch or you will lose and miss out on information regarding Jill Long Thompson’s search for a Lt. Governor and Republican in-fighting over the nomination of a candidate for Attorney General.

4. If you pick a cabin with a hot tub, never criticize your significant other’s driving skills on country roads, because you will never get to use it.

3. They call it poison ivy for a reason.

2. It makes no sense to spend $100 on Land’s End hiking boots if you’re not going to use them because the trail is muddy from last night’s rain.

1. Black people do make it back from the woods.

By the way, I saw the best sign ever on a little church on SR 37, “Count Your Blessings, Not Your Problems.” I agree wholeheartedly.

It looks like City-County Council Minority Leader Joanne Sanders is going to keep her title, for now.  As I told you a few weeks ago, some of her fellow Councilors were not happy with her support of David Orenlichter in the May primary so a move was a foot to get rid of her and replace her with Mary Moriarty Adams.  However as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

Apparently the co-conspirators did not count on the media to get wind of this.  Between the news posted here and over at Bilerico - Indiana, the plot to take out Sanders was exposed to the light of day.  It’s still unclear who was exactly the mastermind behind all this.  Some evidence points to Vernon Brown and Monroe Gray (revenge) and some points to the Maherns, Brian and Dane (blatant power grab).  It’s not enough to condemn, but it certainly is enough to make you go “hmmm”.

What’s has been the saddest note in this entire fiasco is that the pretext for all this was that Sanders did not back the slate.  My Democrat friends picked a heck of a time to find religion.  So many other Democrats had strayed and gone against the party line (Mahern’s  vote against former Mayor Peterson’s 65-percent county income tax increase, for example) and there were no consequences for their actions, so it seemed odd that Sanders would finally be standing on the block when it was time for the axe to fall.

The even bigger irony in all this is that had the story not been written, the plot would have gone forward, Sanders would have been out of job, Democrats would have their fifth Council leader in four years, divisions would have continue to grow, and the local party would have continued to spiraled into disarray engaged in internal bickering instead of offering an alternate vision to Mayor Greg Ballard and the Republicans.

Oh well, there’s always next month.