Fishers vs. Geist - Annexation Battle Round 1

The Town of Fishers sweetened the pot in its attempt to annex 22 Geist area neighborhoods.  The letter was sent out Tuesday and was really just putting on paper what they had already talked about with the area’s homeowners.  The town is currently pursuing a voluntary “unification” with Fishers and the Geist area, but they need 51% of the homeowners to want to be annexed. 

The town is currently offering tax abatements and interest free loans for 30 years for those that would need to add water and sewer connections to their home.  However, most Geist area residents are fighting mad about the significant tax increase.  In an effort to alleviate the tax increase of 16 - 22%, the city is offering to ease the homeowners into the new taxes over a three year period.  The new taxes would not kick in until 2010 and here is how it would break down:

            2010 – 75% Abatement

            2011 – 50% Abatement

            2012 – 25% Abatement

            2013 – Pay full taxes

Honestly, I can see both sides of this issue: if I was a Geist area homeowner I would not want my taxes to go up by almost 20%. Obviously Fishers has a lot to gain in tax dollars by annexing these neighborhoods.  This area has some of the most expensive real estate in Indianapolis.  Also, it is not like these Geist area residents live in a bubble; I am quite sure that they use many facilities and services that other Fishers residents pay for. 

Well we will just see how this one plays out…Fishers needs 51% approval for a “voluntary” annexation.  I don’t see that happening.  The Geist area homeowners need 65% disapproval to mount legal opposition to the annexation.  My guess is that this will not be resolved anytime soon but the town of Fishers will ultimately prevail. 

How will this affect Geist real estate?  I don’t think it will have an impact either way.  If I found the house I wanted to live in, I would not let the possibility of a tax increase in 2013 sway my buying decision.   

• Say No To Fishers
• Town of Fishers Unification Plan

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