Ticket tax proposal moves ahead

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Indianapolis City-County Council will hear a proposal to raise the tax on tickets for events such as Colts and Pacers games. A committee of the council approved the proposal Tuesday night. 

Councilor Pam Hickman explained the reasoning when she said  “we have a deficit we have to fill.”  The 4 percent tax hike would be used to help fill that gap.

An attorney for the Indianapolis Colts, Dan Emerson, warned against the increase. He compared it to killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Emerson said the tax increase would hurt the team, its fans and all of central Indiana because it will “put a damper on your fan enthusiasm. ”   Emerson said the team has worked hard to avoid raising ticket prices.  “We want to avoid blackouts,” he said.  But, “to bump ticket prices would make it functionally impossible to sell-out” Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Emerson said the Colts “are absolutely not insensitive to the problems” being discussed by the council.  He also said, though, this is a problem not of the Colts making.

Councilor Hickman, a Democrat, said she and her colleagues had to weigh the impact of the ticket tax against the cost of providing services such as public safety. 

Republican Ben Hunter said “we do have a tough decision,” especially since the Indiana General Assembly ordered the tax decision to be made by March 1st.

The council also approved a proposal to raise car rental fees by 2 percent.  Both proposals will be discussed by the full council on January 28.