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Music critic David Lindquist tweeted several times before
country duo Sugarland was scheduled to take the stage Aug. 13.
Twitter posts from The Indianapolis Star reporter included his estimate of the crowd size – about 12,000 people – menacing clouds rolling in at the Indiana State Fair concert venue.
He never sent a tweet he was composing about the show going on despite threatening weather.
At that moment the stage rigging collapsed onto the crowd, and The Star’s social media cov
erage of the concert changed from sharing casual observations to relaying tragic news.
Five people were killed and many injured in the accident.
The paper used its website, Facebook and Twitter to quickly get information and photos to news readers, said Dennis Ryer son, editor and vice president of The Star.
“It was David’s tweets that enabled us to be first out the door in getting the information to users of our websites,” he said.
Within minutes Lindquist tweeted: Tragedy at fair concert. Entire stage collapses on track.
But first he contacted the newsroom, he said.
“My first instinct was to get something online,” he said. “So I called the paper.”
The Star was fortunate Lindquist and photographer Matt Kryger were covering the show, Ryerson said.
“We posted the story shortly after we received the news,” he said.
Photos were on IndyStar.com within an hour, Kryger said.
Both Star staffers stayed out of harm’s way.
Lindquist was safe in his fifthrow grandstand seat, and Kryger benefited from a lastminute decision by Sugarland management to
PublisherThe Indiana
Volume 76, Issue 17 • August 18, 2011 Published alternate Thursdays
Speakers will talk shop at ad conference
Paper reports on stage collapse within minutes via posts
Is civic health under the weather?
HSPA needs data to protect public notices
The HSPA Foundation has drafted its section of the Indiana Civic Health Index – The Role of the Free Press.
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard will announce the results Sept. 14 at the Indiana State Museum IMAX Theater in Indianapolis in conjunction with a celebration of Constitution Day on Sept. 17.
Following the release of findings, the Indiana Bar Foundation will host an advance screening of “We the People,” a documentary on the founding documents and history of the United States from the Smithsonian Institution, Bill of Rights Institute and National Archives.
Kenny Rogers and Morgan Freeman narrate the film that will be released in February.
“The Foundation board and I believe this project will shed more light on Hoosiers’ civic engagement, particularly in the areas of voting, interest in politics and knowledge of First Amendment rights,” said Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation director. “If Indiana does not
HSPA is getting geared up to defend publicnotice advertising in newspapers in the 2011 General Assembly.
Publicnotice ads serve as one of the three pillars of open government in Indiana, along with the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act, said Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel.
We must continue to educate Hoosiers, including lawmakers, on the connection public notice
See Speakers, Page 2
See Civic, Page 2
See Notices, Page 2
See Media, Page 3
Data neededPublishers received an email from Steve Key requesting paper-specific information on public notices. If you missed yours, email skey@ hspa.com.
When: Sept. 30. Sessions for managers start at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Ses-sions for sales reps and designers begin at 10 a.m.
Where: Student Center, Ball State University, Muncie
Registration deadlines: Sept. 2 for early-bird rate. Sept. 23 for regular rate.
Registration: Fax the form your newspaper received, or visit www.hspafoundation.org to print a paper form or sign up online.
Information: [email protected], (317) 803-4772, or www.hspafoundation.org
Social mediaon the scene
The upcoming Advertising Conference will offer resultsbased training for ad managers, sales reps and graphic designers.
The event Sept. 30 will feature speakers, panel discussions and ideasharing sessions at the Student Center at Ball State University in Muncie.
The event, sponsored by INAEA, HSPA Foundation and Trace Communication, includes breakfast, lunch, an evening reception and awards gala.
Advertising departments can register by faxing the forms that were mailed to each newspaper or registering online at www.hspafoundation.org/events.
Register at a reduced rate through Sept. 2. Regular registration ends Sept. 23. Payment may follow later for both due dates.
This year’s speakers will offer ideas for crafting revenueboosting, eyecatching ads, said Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation director.
Bob McInnis, president of McInnis and Associates of Greenport, N.Y., will address advertising
Advertising Tailgate & Awards Gala
By Milissa TuleyHSPA staff
Page 2 August 18, 2011
Member notices
Head pressman – For Goss Community web press, print-ing two daily newspapers and several weeklies and shoppers. Winchester, Ind., east of Muncie. Call (765) 584-4501 or (765) 348-0110 or send information to [email protected]. (1)
Advertising sales manager – The Elkhart Truth, a family-owned print and online daily newspaper located in northern Indiana, is looking for an adver-tising sales manager. Online and print advertising experience pre-
ferred. Email resume and salary requirements to asilvers@ federatedmedia.com. EOE. (2)
Circulation district manager – The Daily Reporter (Greenfield, Ind.) wants a motivated, enthusi-astic individual to help serve our reader base. You will work a flex-ible schedule, and Saturday morn-ing is required on some weeks. Submit resume to dkoenig@ hnenewspapers.com. (2)
Advertising representative – The Elkhart Truth is looking for a bright, resourceful, highly moti-vated and committed individual for the position of advertising
sales account representative. Preferred candidates must pos-sess a consultative sales style and have previous sales or media experience. Send resume with cover letter and salary expectations to [email protected]. EOE (2)
Advertising sales manager – Experienced advertising sales manager needed for KPC Media Group’s community daily and weekly newspapers in northeast Indiana. Send resume to [email protected]. (2)
Send member notices to [email protected].
Production director worked for HNE
HSPA staffSteve Key, executive director and general counsel
[email protected] • (317) 624-4427
Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation [email protected] • (317) 624-4426
Pamela Lego, MAP advertising [email protected] • (812) 350-7711
Milissa Tuley, communications [email protected] • (317) 624-4430
Yvonne Yeadon, office [email protected] • (317) 624-4433
Shawn Goldsby, ICAN and ICAN Plus [email protected] • (317) 803-4772
The Indiana Publisher is published bi-weekly by Hoosier State Press Association,
41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772. ISSN 0019-6711 USPS 058-730.
Periodicals-class postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind., and at additional mailing office.
Postmaster: Send address changes to 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204,
(317) 803-4772, Fax (317) 624-4428. Website: www.hspa.com
Subscriptions $25 per year. Ad rates furnished upon request.
HSPA calendarSept. 2 Advertising Conference early-bird registration deadline
Sept. 23 Advertising Conference registration deadline
Sept. 30 Advertising Conference with INAEA, Ball State University, Muncie
Fall Circulation Conference with ICEA
Oct. 6-7 HSPA & HSPA Foundation joint board meeting, Nashville, Ind.
Dec. 3 Newsroom Seminar & Better Newspaper Contest Awards Gala, Indianapolis Marriott North
Dec. 9 HSPA board meeting, Indianapolis
Feb. 4 APME-HSPA Foundation Job Fair
Feb. 16-17 Annual Meetings & Government Conference, Indianapolis Marriott Downtown
Feb. 24 Pulliam internship application deadline for newspapers and students
March 1 Pulliam intern selection committee meeting
Employees sought
HSPA Board of DirectorsHSPA Officers
President: Tim Timmons, The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville), The Times (Noblesville)Vice President: Greg Morris, IBJ Corp.
Secretary: Robyn McCloskey, Pharos-Tribune (Logansport), Kokomo Tribune
Treasurer: Jon O’Bannon, The Corydon Democrat
HSPA Board Members
Jim Kroemer, Goshen NewsRandy List, Rust Communications
Bill Masterson Jr., The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster)Tina West, The Courier-Times (New Castle)
Dailies
NondailiesJohn Haley, Pulaski County Journal (Winamac)
Don Hurd, Benton Review (Fowler)Kathy Tretter, Dubois-Spencer County Publishing Co. Inc.
Shannon Williams, Indianapolis Recorder
HSPA Foundation Board of DirectorsHSPA Foundation Officers
President: Henry Bird, The Herald Bulletin (Anderson)Vice President: John Rumbach, The Herald (Jasper)
Secretary: Pat Lanman, Vevay Newspapers Inc.Treasurer: Jeff Rogers, Home News Enterprises
HSPA Foundation Board of DirectorsLinda Chandler, Ripley PublishingCurt Jacobs, The Madison Courier
Barbara King, North Vernon Plain Dealer & SunKevin Lashbrook, Community Media Group
Mayer Maloney, Hoosier Times Inc.Jack Pate, Evansville Courier & PressNeal Ronquist, Paxton Media Group
Gary Suisman, Journal and Courier (Lafayette)
Neil A. Thompson, a longtime Indiana newspaper production department manager, has died at age 59.
Thompson, of Columbus, died Aug. 5, 2011, at Hospice of South Central Indiana Inpatient Facility.
He worked for 42 years in the printing/publishing industry.
Starting in 1995, Thompson worked as production director for The Republic (Columbus)/HNE Printers. He supervised all production departments, including electronic photo imaging, pre
press, press and postpress/distribution departments. He also directed commercial printing, computer systems and mailing operations.
During 1996 and 1997, Thompson was an instrumental part of the management team responsible for the construction and equipping of The Republic/HNE Printers stateoftheart printing center in the Woodside Industrial Park complex southwest of Columbus.
When the facility opened in 1998, he led the production team that brought the facil
ity into full operation.Thompson moved to the
position of commercial printing sales manager in 2007.
Prior to his work with HNE, he was employed for 18 years by Howard W. Sams Co., an electronic/technical book and custom publishing division of MacMillan Inc., as projects manager, prepress, press and service manager and custom production supervisor. He also worked for eight years in sales and technical support for Anitec Image Corp., a film and plate manufacturer.
managers and sales reps during a session he calls “Driving Serious Local Ad Revenue in a Recession.”
Donna Gray, president and creative director of Indianapolisbased Matchbook Creative adver tising agency and an assistant professor of advertising in Ball State’s Department of Journalism, will present a concurrent session for graphic designers on “How to Make an Ad in 30 Minutes and Other Helpful Design Hints.”
Both speakers will focus on producing headturning advertising.
McInnis said he will offer creative ways to combat clients’ misperceptions about newspaper advertising and get decisionmakers to in crease their print media buys.
“The Holy Grail for advertising sales is proving up front that they’re going to get a response,” he said.
Clients often think advertising is a big risk so they limit themselves to small, infrequent ads, McInnis said.
His methods will offer ways to prove to prospective advertisers that they’re going to get a response worth their money, he said.
“HSPA conference attendees will leave with a much easier approach to eliminating the most difficult sales
objections, including ‘newspapers don’t work,’ ‘it’s a recession and I have no money’ and ‘you’re too expensive,’” he said.
Gray will give graphic designers a customized presentation based on a survey HSPA Foundation will send to registrants to determine their training needs and wants.
She said her session will likely include plenty of dialogue and Q&A.
“I want to engage the audience and want to deliver content that’s helpful for them,” she said.
Gray said she enjoys working with clients on strategy and branding and can offer creative ideas on a variety of platforms for newspapers.
SpeakersContinued from Page 1
advertising has to government transparency, he said.
Key recently sent an email to publishers asking for paperspecific information to help the association better defend public notice advertising.
The request comes in light of bills filed before the 2010 Indiana General Assembly that would have moved public notices from print to the Internet and recently signed legislation in Ohio that will reduce that state’s newspaper public notice advertising revenue by an estimated 20 percent to 30 percent.
For publishers who didn’t catch the email, please contact Key at [email protected] for a resend.
“I know this will require staff time, but it will be invaluable information to counter arguments for moving public notice advertising from newspapers to the Internet,” he said. “I appreciate your help.”
come out with an ‘A’ on this report card, we need to address the problem quickly with more education at every level.”
The Indiana Civic Health Index focuses on the importance of an informed and engaged citizenry.
It assesses who participates in community activities such as voting and volunteerism, what resources promote civic engagement, what obstacles prevent citizens from getting involved in community decisionmaking and knowledge of the First Amendment.
Many Americans don’t understand their government, said Hamilton, who serves as the direc
tor of the Center on Congress at Indiana University.
The index will help the state focus on what must be done to improve people’s civic knowledge and skills, he said.
The National Conference on Citizenship performed the analysis.
“This index, and the ensuing discussion of what it means and what should be done, is of keen interest to newspapers,” said John Rumbach, vice president of the HSPA Foundation board of directors and copublisher of The Herald (Jasper).
HSPA members who want to attend the Sept. 14 event should contact Braeckel at [email protected]. Only a few seats re mained at press time.
NoticesContinued from Page 1
CivicContinued from Page 1
move photographers back so fans could get close to the band.
Just after the rigging fell, Kryger climbed a fence behind him and started taking photos.
That location rather than among the wreckage would afford him more time to shoot before emergency responders closed off the area, he reasoned.
“That was just a gut feeling at the time, rather than be shooed away after five minutes,” he said.
He shot for about 15 minutes before leaving the scene briefly to transmit his first batch of photos to the newsroom, a process he would repeat throughout the evening.
“I shot a picture of the glow of the midway with dust picking up … people running … a bunch of pictures of people trying to lift
up the (rigging),” he said. Meanwhile Lindquist
reported on the rescue effort and provided updates via Twitter.
One police car and large forklift on track. Hundreds attempting to clear equipment, he tweeted.
Another post said: Perhaps a dozen injured people have been removed from track on stretchertype boards.
Later he tweeted quotes from witnesses: It was like it was in slow motion. You couldn’t believe it was actually happening. – Concertgoer Amy Weathers.
“It was very much a socialmedia application,” Lindquist said. “That’s what the story began with.”
At The Star newsroom, staff members updated the website and made prepara
tions for the print product, Ryerson said.
That night’s finalpage deadline was extended from midnight to 12:30 a.m., and editors increased the paper size by two pages.
“Our coverage was a total team effort,” he said. “We called in all available staff Saturday evening and Sunday.”
The Star used social media to solicit information and located families of all five deceased concertgoers so reporters could write profiles about their lives, Ryerson said.
“We wanted more than just nutsandbolts news, and I hope we were successful in providing just that,” he said.
For Lindquist and Kryger, the tragedy’s impact was unlike any news event they ever covered, both said.
“We were talking about how rare it is to be a reporter and (also) be a firsthand witness to an event,” Lindquist said.
August 18, 2011 Page 3
News in brief
Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to [email protected].
AP posts links to your stories
Tell us your storyHas your newsroom recently gone above and beyond to cover the news? Tell us about it by emailing [email protected].
Media courses offered online
Editor leads debate commission
BNC judging gets underwayHSPA Foundation
extends its thanks to the 88 member newspapers who participated in the 2011 Better Newspaper Contest.
More than 2,650 entries have been confirmed and sent to outofstate newspaper professionals for judging.
Members can expect letters announcing winners’ names (but not places or categories except for section awards) by midOctober.
Awards will be presented during the luncheon following the
Newsroom Seminar on Dec. 3 at the Indianapolis Marriott North. Please mark your calendars now for the annual event.
Newspapers welcomed this year’s digitalentry process for the most part, said Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation director.
“We expected a few hiccups and the usual lastminute scramble, but many contest coordinators heeded our advice and started earlier this year because of the new system,” she said.
Updated your information lately?Hspa.com features
a valuable newspaper search tool that your potential clients and readers are using.
More than 300 viewers visited hspa.com/ newsdirectory in June and July alone to find information on Indiana newspapers.
Keeping your paper’s online directory information up to date is easy.
Visit hspa.com and click on “Update your directory information” under the Member
Directory tab.Fill in only the infor
mation that needs to be updated in the online form, and click submit.
The newspaper directory at hspa.com is searchable by paper name, city and county.
Listings include information such as circulation size, editor and ad director names, company email pattern and more.
For more information on updating your paper’s directory information, email [email protected].
Ball State University offers emerging media journalism classes online.
Two classes that might especially interest HSPA members include:
• News 339 – Social Media and Audience Interactivity, scheduled from Aug. 22Dec. 16.
• News 132 – Multimedia: Audio, scheduled from Sept. 26Oct. 30.
Still photographers in particular might find the audio class useful
for adding sound to their photo slideshows.
The courses are taught by Ball State faculty, and a journalist from The New York Times also participates in each class. Students can register as noncredit or credit participants in Ball State’s Emerging Media Journalism Certificate program.
Visit bsu.edu/nytimes for more information on the courses, registration and fees.
The Indiana Debate Commission, which hosts debates for candidates running for statewide offices, elected Max Jones as its new president.
Jones, editor of the TribuneStar (Terre Haute), also is involved in several HSPAsupported initiatives, included serving on the Newsroom Seminar and Better Newspaper Con test Rules Committee and working with
the Friends of Ernie Pyle.Other debate commis
sion announcements involving leaders at HSPA member newspapers include:
• Mizell Stewart III, editor of The Courier & Press (Evansville), is the new vice president of the 23member, nonprofit board.
• Tim Harmon, managing editor of the South Bend Tribune, is a new board member.
Introducing
Creator ExpressA desktop app that combines design, illustration and production tools—all for a low cost.
$2999 Exclusively sold through the Mac App StoreSM
multiad.com/creatorexpress
News organizations that break big stories are getting a little more credit — and maybe even a little traffic — from The Associated Press.
When the AP picks up a local story from a member for rewriting and distribution, the text of AP’s story will now include a link back to the original report.
For example, when the Boston Globe reported that TV producers had doctored the CBS broadcast of the July 4th fireworks show, the AP picked it up and the story went national. The Globe got credit on the hundreds of news sites that carried the story — but no link back to the original story.
That has changed.“The days are long past
that you’re writing a story and you’re only thinking about … rewriting it so that you can put it into the paper,” said Martin Kaiser, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who
brought the idea to the AP. “Why spend the time rewriting? Why not link back?”
Pickups will now include a parenthetical bit.ly link to the original story, in addition to the credit.
So in the fireworks story, you might see: “According to the Boston Globe report (http://bit.ly/pDHZ6h)…”
The change will be most noticeable on state wires, where pickups are common. (Most of the AP’s national content is original reporting. Less than 2 percent of the national wire is material picked up from members.)
Kaiser said he has been pushing the AP for years to act more like an aggregator and less like a rewrite desk.
And while this new policy doesn’t directly save AP staffers the time they spend rewriting a member’s copy, it’s a step toward more transparent credit and could drive some marginal amount of traffic to local news sites.
Kaiser remembers breaking stories at smaller papers and seeing them edited, san
itized and bylineless on the wire the next day. Several years ago, the AP added an “Information from” footnote to credit the news organization. Then the footnote got a link to that organization’s home page. About a year ago, the AP started crediting newsrooms in the body of the story.
Because the AP is a cooperative, it has no legal obligation to credit its members. But “that’s a legal point, not a journalistic one,” said Mike Oreskes, AP’s senior managing editor.
“We came to the conclusion last year that proper journalistic practice was to credit the member newspaper in all cases where an article was picked up, especially in an Internet age when the origins of information are really important to understand,” Oreskes said.
Andrew Phelps is a staff writer at the Nieman Journalism Lab, a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
By Andrew PhelpsNeiman Journalism Lab
SAve The DATe!Newsroom Seminar & Awards Gala
Dec. 3, 2011 • Indianapolis
MediaContinued from Page 1
Public notice advertising is the oftenneglected piece of the three Indiana statutes that protect the public’s right to know what its government representatives are doing or contemplating.
The Open Door Law requires governing bodies in Indiana to meet in plain view. The burden is on a government agency to find a statute allowing it to close the doors on the public.
The Access to Public Records Act presumes that records of governments can be inspected and copied by anyone. Again, the burden is on the government agency to find a statute that would allow or require it to keep a record secret.
The Public Notice Advertising Law requires state and local government agencies to publish in local newspapers information about actions taken or about to be taken, so that the public has an opportunity to voice its opinion with those elected decisionmakers.
Between now and early September, townships, school districts, cities, towns, counties and various other entities are publishing their proposed budgets for 2012 and the date of the public
hearing when the public can ask questions about the proposed spending by these government units.
Later in the year, school districts will publish their annual performance reports, which chart the academic measurements prescribed by the Indiana legislature for each school building in the state.
That’s only a sampling of the notices local and state government units are required to publish.
To control publication costs, the Indiana General Assembly since 1927 has limited the amount newspapers are compensated for publishing these notices.
The larger the circulation of the newspaper, the more disparate the rate for government is compared to the market rate a newspaper can charge its other advertising customers.
Despite this statemandated discount, lobbyists for local governments yearly decry the cost of public notice advertising. Rather than embrace the concept of transparency, they call public notice advertising an unfunded state mandate.
They argue the notices should be posted on government websites rather than
published in local newspapers.
They argue that provides greater transparency. But their arguments run counter to the desires of citizens.
When last surveyed in 2004, 73 percent of Hoosiers said local and state governments should be required to publish public notice ads regularly in newspapers.
Told in a followup question that government units must pay for such notices with tax dollars, there was no drop off in the percentage (73 percent) who continued to say publication was the proper way to give notice.
These figures haven’t necessarily changed in the past few years despite the proliferation of wireless access, mobile apps and tablet computers, according to recent surveys in other Midwest states.
Last year, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association found through a survey that 78 percent of Wisconsinites
believe state and local government should be required to publish public notices in the newspaper on a regular basis. Fortyone percent said they were “not likely at all” to go to a government website to find public notices.
Also last year, the Michigan Press Association found that 61 percent of Michigan voters opposed a plan to allow government agencies to post public notices on a government website rather than publishing them in newspapers.
The Michigan survey showed that nearly 70 percent of voters rarely visit a government website.
When asked what impact moving public notices from newspapers to the Internet would have, 62 percent of Hoosiers in the 2004 study said they would see them “much less often” or “less often.”
While the Internet is a valuable tool for finding certain types of information, there are some key deficiencies when it comes to government websites as the primary location for public notices.
They’re not an independent entity with a vested interest in seeing that the
notices are posted properly or at all.
Currently, the state Board of Accounts reports that dozens of government units fail to file required forms listing what public employees are paid.
Why would we expect the compliance level on public notice posting to be any better?
There isn’t an easy way for the public to verify at a later date whether a posting on the Internet was done when required.
Likewise, the Internet can’t be archived in the same way as the printed page.
In any community, I expect one could visit the local library and access newspapers spanning several decades of publication. You can see what was published in that county for any given week, whether it’s a public notice, an obituary or a news story.
Newspapers continue to be the best forum for government entities to reach citizens with public notices and other information – by a long shot.
Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for HSPA.
Page 4 August 18, 2011
Key Points
By Steve Key
Notices more likely to be read in ink
These questions came from the PharosTribune (Logansport), The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville) and the Wabash Plain Dealer:
Do you have a list of what newspapers can and can’t use in advertisements to avoid trademark
infringement with the NFL? For example, I don’t believe we can use the words Colts, Super Bowl or Indianapolis Colts.
The NFL zealously protects its trademarks from unauthorized use in advertise
ments. You are correct that words such as “Super Bowl” and team names can’t be used in ads.
Instead, you can refer to “The Big Game” and “Indianapolis” without using “Colts.”
The legalinformation section at www.hspa.com includes a list of NFL trademark do’s and don’ts and other information on this topic. Visit www.hspa.com/nfltrademarks.
A variety of legal information is available at www.hspa.com/legal, including materials on access issues, court matters, local government, telemarketing, trademarks and more.
How long should the newspaper keep information on public notice advertisements that have been placed
by local entities?
Three years should be sufficient to keep such records.
The statute of limita tions on most legal actions runs out in two years, so you would have the documentation to show when items were published during that key time period.
The Hoosier State Press Association sent out a notice reminding newspapers of the window for publica
tion of a school financial report. Are you talking about the annual report card or the budget estimate?
The answer is neither.
The school district must publish a finan
cial report between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15 that summarizes what they spent during the most recent fiscal year.
In addition, districts have to run a budget estimate/notice of hearing twice before Sept. 9. This estimate is part of the budget process for the next fiscal year.
School districts also publish annual school performance reports every year, but they detail academic performance rather than financial information.
The past couple of years the window for publishing the school performance report has been dependent upon when the state Department of Education has the data ready for use.
Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at [email protected] or (317) 6244427.
HSPA Hotline
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Government budget procedure deadlinesPublishers and editors, take note: Government entities must meet these deadlines according to state law.
Sept. 2: Last day for first publication of pro-posed levy, budget, and notice to taxpayers of public hearing. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-3)
Sept. 9: Last day for second publication of proposed levy, budget, and notice to taxpayers of public hearing. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-3)
Sept. 16: Last possible day for units to submit proposed budgets, rates, and levies to county fiscal bodies for non-binding review and recommendation. Must be 45 days before the civil taxing unit adopts its tax rate, levy and budget. This applies to taxing units not subject to binding review. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-3.5)
Sept. 30: Deadline for second and third class cities to adopt salary ordinances. (I.C. 36-4-7-3)
Sept. 30: Last possible day for taxing units subject to binding adop-tion to submit proposed budgets, rates, and levies to the appropri-
ate city/town or county fiscal body for adoption. Must be 30 days before city/town or county fis-cal body adopts bud-gets.
Units subject to bind-ing adoption include conservancy districts with appointed boards, all solid waste manage-ment districts, all fire protection districts, and units with appointed governing bodies with a proposed budget increase from the pre-vious year over the assessed value growth quotient. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-20)
Oct. 21: Last day for taxing units’ public hearing on their bud-get, except for Marion County and second-class cities, which may hold the hearing any-time after introduction of budget (I.C. 6-1.1-17-5)
Oct. 28: Last day 10 or more taxpayers may object to a budget, tax rate or tax levy of a political subdivision. Must occur not more than seven days after the hearing. [I.C. 6-1.1-17-5(b)]
Nov. 1: Deadline for all taxing units to adopt budgets, rates and lev-ies. [I.C. 6-1.1-17-5(a)]
Nov. 3: Last day for tax-ing units to file adopted budgets with county auditor and County Tax Adjustment Board (TAB). Must be no later than two days after budget adoption. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-5)
Nov. 18: Only if the budgets, tax rates, or tax levies are modified by the TAB or county auditor, the county audi-tor is required – within 15 days of the modi-fication – to publish a notice (“TAB chart”) of the adopted tax rates for the various funds in each tax district. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-12)
Nov. 28: Last day for taxpayers to object to county TAB or county auditor’s modifications to unit’s tax rate, levy, or budget as published in the TAB chart. Must be filed no later than 10 days after the publica-tion of the TAB chart. Appeal would be filed with county auditor. (I.C. 6-1.1-17-13)
Dec. 30: Deadline for counties other than Marion County to adopt salary ordinance. (I.C. 36-2-5-3)
Source: State Department of Local Government Finance
