Councilman Hall Shares May Time Sheet

Welcome to the Timesheet. This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative too, a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.

As your employee, it is important that you know what is being worked on as transparently as is possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you will choose to be informed by regularly reading this column, getting involved, consider volunteering, and by asking questions. Council meetings are at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month at the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center in downtown Noblesville. Meetings are also available to watch online for those unable to attend in person. Here is where my time this past month has been spent.

In addition to the County Council public meetings, May work included: a Board of Commissioners public meeting and watching a Noblesville Town Council meeting. The personnel committee meeting was replaced by a poll of the members. In that poll we addressed one salary reclassification for the Sheriff and one promotion request for the Highway department. The finance committee met in May; we were briefed on the expected budget impact of Senate Bill 1. This included changes to the Max Levy Growth Quotient, expected impacts to the county 2026, 2027, and 2028 budget revenues as well as a presentation of options for the council to consider regarding the adoption of the County LIT (Local Income Tax) rate in 2027. Lastly, the committee was presented with additional 2027 options for new LIT rates for Townships, Libraries, Solid Waste, Fire and EMS, and Airport Authorities. The Insurance committee met where we reviewed an update on the performance of Riverview Clinics for County Employees.

This month I received four constituent service requests and communications. One set of communications was regarding the Finance Committee meetings. The constituent questioned where we meet at, the public notice process for those meetings and if the meals were paid for by the county. The Finance Committee meetings are publicly noticed in local papers days in advance and are advertised online as per the state statute governing public meetings. We meet at a restaurant for a working lunch session at the request of the county finance consultant. The meals are paid for out of pocket or are paid for by the consultant. The meals are not expensed to Hamilton County. The second set of communications centered around a bridge project in White River Township requiring some ground acquisition and approvals from DNR and Madison County as the project is nestled in county adjacent property and over a water feature that the Department of Natural Resources at the State of Indiana controls. In short, it feels like I’ve failed on this one. I couldn’t satisfy the property owner as they’d like the project to be done differently and the engineers, highway, and state officials feel that the project should be done a different way. My intentions were honorable but given the data and expert opinions involved; a case to change the project scope could not be made. Unfortunately, the constituent was not happy with the outcome. The third request centered on what the constituent feels is the unfair property tax assessment emanating from the assessment of rental properties in Hamilton County. There isn’t a direct solution to her issue. Unfortunately, while SB1 will offer some planned relief to property owners over the next few years, until the formula given to the County by the state to assess property values changes, we will all be paying property taxes based on the assumed value of our property. Lastly, the fourth set of communications centered around the proposed Estridge development in Jackson Township. I have well over a dozen exchanges with this constituent, far too many to detail in this column. Leave it to be said that they were not in favor of the zoning change, the HCRUD providing water and sewer services in Jackson Township and the project in general. Most of the information requested had to do with county data and processes to be used to remonstrate against the project in front of the Cicero / Jackson Township Planning Commission and Cicero Town Council. All the publicly available data that was requested was provided to the taxpayer.

Noteworthy items from May include continuing to work with Commissioner Heirbrandt and the County Attorney, to look for ways to help offset the costs of sewer system testing in order to opt out of connection with the sewer if required. The most promising opportunity would be a grant from the RDC (Regional Development Commission) to the HCRUD (Hamilton County Regional Utility District) that would establish a fund to offset the sewer testing expenses of homestead homeowners impacted by the state statute requiring them to test their septic system to opt out of connecting to a new utility.

The most noteworthy topic from May continues to be Property Tax reform. Specifically, understanding the impacts of the reform passed by the state legislature along with planning for budget changes, new oversight, and local income tax reform.

It was an honor to represent you this month in meetings with the Lieutenant Governor, at The One Zone Eggs & Issues Breakfast, in meetings with the Adams Township waterpark developers, at the Cicero Fire Annual Pancake Breakfast, and at the Pleasant Street Office Renovation Project Ribbon Cutting.

This is my time sheet. This is where my time went during May 2025. While my job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget, it is important that I understand the Board of Commissioners’ priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.

As a taxpayer myself, and listening to so many of you, our employers, it is important for the taxpayers to have access to all the information you want. I work for you and although you may not choose to do a deep dive into what your County Council does, it is important that you can always do so. Feel free to contact me at 317-832-1104 or mark.hall@hamiltoncounty.in.gov with questions, feedback or if you would like to talk about county business.

Mark Hall is a Hamilton County Councilman and the Founder and CEO of TLX, Talent Logistix. He writes a monthly column in The Times detailing his work as a county councilman.