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| {{County transparency checklist |
| | #REDIRECT[[Indianapolis, Indiana]] |
| Rating = {{Rating9}} |
| | [[Category:Counties in Indiana]] |
| Budget = {{yes}} |
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| Meetings = {{yes}} |
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| Elected Officials = {{yes}} |
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| Administrative Officials = {{yes}} |
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| Building permits and zoning = {{yes}} |
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| Audits = {{yes}} |
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| Contracts = {{yes}} |
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| Lobbying = {{no (Sunshine Review)}} |
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| Public records = {{yes}} |
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| Local taxes = {{yes}} |
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| }}{{tnr}}'''Marion County''' is one of [[Indiana counties (Sunshine Review)|92 counties]] in [[Indiana]]. In 1970, the governments of Marion County and [[Indianapolis, Indiana|Indianapolis]] were combined into one consolidated government. The city and county share a website and governmental functions.<ref name="cafr">[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/OFM/Documents/CAFR/2010%20City%20of%20Indpls%20CAFR.pdf ''Official Indianapolis website'', "CAFR 2010," accessed November 9, 2011]</ref> According to the 2010 census, Marion County's population is 903,393.<ref>[http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18/18097.html ''U.S. Census Bureau'', "Quick Facts," accessed November 9, 2011]</ref>
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| ==Website evaluation==
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| : ''Main article: [[Evaluation of Indiana city websites]]''
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| This website was most recently evaluated on 9 March 2013.
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| ===The good===
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| * The website is easy to navigate.
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| * Elected Officials
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| ** Elected officials are listed with a mailing address, phone number and personalized email.<ref name="ccc">[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/Council/Councillors/Biography/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Councillor Biographies," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Ethics forms are posted.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/Council/Councillors/Biography/Documents/Ethics%20forms%202010%20correct.pdf ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Ethics Forms 2010," accessed November 9, 2011]</ref>
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| * Meetings
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| ** Meeting minutes are archived for 9 years.
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| ** Meeting agendas are archived for 9 years.
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| ** A meeting calendar is available and names the times and locations of public meetings.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/Council/Meetings/Council/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Council Meetings," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Budget
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| ** The most current budget is listed.
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| ** Budgets are archived for 14 years.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/OFM/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Office of Finance and Management," March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Audits
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| ** The most recent audit is posted.
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| ** Audits dating back to 2005 are available.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/OFM/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Office of Finance and Management," March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Taxes
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| ** Tax revenues are broken down by federal, state, and local funding in the budget.
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| ** Local taxes, like property taxes, are available online.
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| ** Residents are able to pay taxes online.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/Services/Pages/payments.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Payments," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Public records
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| ** The public information officer is identified and maintained by the Public Access Counselor. This person provides a mailing address, phone number and personalized email.
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| ** A public records form is provided by the Public Access Counselor.
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| ** A fee schedule for documents is provided.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/occ/pages/accesstopublicrecordsact.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Access to Public Records Act," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Permits and zoning
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| ** Zoning ordinances are posted online.
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| ** Permit applications can be downloaded on the site, along with information on how to apply for the permits.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DMD/Planning/Zoning/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Zoning," accessed MArch 10, 2013]</ref><ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DCE/Permits/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Permits," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Administrative officials
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| ** Department heads are listed for each department.
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| ** Contact information for administrative officials is provided including a mailing address, phone number, and personalized email.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.indy.gov/Documents/2011%20Department%20List.pdf ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Department List," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| * Contracts
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| ** Bids and RFPs are posted online.
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| ** Approved contract statements are provided for vendors.<ref>[http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/ofm/purch/bids/pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Bids & Quotes," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref><ref>[http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/OCC/contracts/Pages/home.aspx ''Official Indianapolis website'', "Contracts," accessed March 10, 2013]</ref>
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| ===The bad===
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| * Lobbying
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| ** There is no information on government sector lobbying.
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| ==Elected officials==
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| ===City-County Council===
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| City-county council members serve four-year terms. There are 29 members; 25 are elected by districts, and the other four are elected by the county at-large.<ref name="ccc"/>
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| In the November 8, 2011 election, Democrats took back the city-county council majority from the Republicans.<ref name="indy"/>
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| ===Mayor===
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| Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard (R) won re-election in 2011.<ref name="indy">[http://www.indystar.com/article/20111109/NEWS0502/111090351 ''Indianapolis Star'', "Greg Ballard wins 2nd term as Indianapolis mayor," accessed November 9, 2011]</ref>
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| ==Budget==
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| {| class=wikitable
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| |+ 2012 Budget by Department<ref name="budg"/>
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| !Department!!2010 Actual!!2011 Adopted!!2012 Introduced
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| |-
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| |Public Safety||$346,772,568||$364,584,411||$356,433,630
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| |-
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| |Criminal Justice||$221,652,272||$221,566,219||$219,664,921
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| |-
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| |Other Public Services||$300,837,068||$260,350,390||$178,942,898
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| |-
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| |Executive, Legislative, Admin||$91,561,193||$85,406,971||$80,104,986
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| |-
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| |Debt Service||$104,237,038||$105,413,910||$106,454,395
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| |-
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| |'''Total'''||'''$1,065,060,140'''||'''$1,037,321,901'''||'''941,600,829'''
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| |}
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| ===Taxes===
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| Marion County's income tax rate is 1.62%.<ref name="budg"/>
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| ===Debt===
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| The consolidated city has $622.7 million in unrestricted debt, mostly from pension and post-employment benefit obligations.<ref name="cafr"/>
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| ==Economic development==
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| ===Mass-transit system===
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| Mayor Greg Ballard has proposed increasing the mass-transit system in the Indianapolis area, seeking support from state lawmakers.<ref>[http://www.indystar.com/article/20111109/NEWS05/111090396/Mayor-Ballard-rolls-out-mass-transit-plan-state-lawmakers?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CIndyStar.com ''Indianapolis Star'', "Ballard rolls out mass transit plan for state lawmakers," accessed November 9, 2011]</ref>
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| ==Indiana Transparency Portal==
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| The Indiana State Auditor has launched an Indiana Transparency Portal (ITP), containing budget and financial information for local governments. The interactive report-builder page offers a range of information. Users can find financial data for a county, municipality or other unit of government.<ref name="itp">[https://gateway.ifionline.org/report_builder/default.aspx ''Indiana Gateway for Government Unites'', "Report Builder," accessed November 28, 2011]</ref>
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| ===Accuracy===
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| Because Marion County and Indianapolis have a unified government, it is difficult to compare their unified budget to the ITP database, which has separate information for counties and cities. According to the ITP, Marion County's budget expenditures for 2012 are $293,569,847 and revenues are $305,097,137.<ref name="itp"/> Data for the City of Indianapolis does not appear to be available.
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| ==External links==
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| {{wikipedia entry|Marion County, Indiana|Marion County}}
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| * [http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html Indianapolis Detailed Profile]
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| * [http://www.archaeolink.com/indianapolis_city_profile_state_.htm Indianapolis links]
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| * [http://www.thecityofindianapolis.com/ City of Indianapolis information]
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| * [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18/1836003.html City of Indianapolis Quick Census facts]
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| * [http://www.indy.gov/Pages/Home.aspx Official Marion County official website]
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| * [http://www.in.gov/judiciary/marion/ Marion County Courts] ''([[dead link]])''
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| * [http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/pr18097.html Marion County stats]
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| * [http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=5516 Marion County on Epodunk]
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist|2}}
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| {{Indiana}}
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| {{Sr muni page note|Month=January 2014}}
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| [[Category:Counties in Indiana]][[Category:Rated Indiana counties]][[Category:Top 10 project]] | |
| {{siteeval|March 2013}}
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