(The following article by Catherine Rentz Pernot was posted on the Indianapolis Star website on August 19.)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Lines of frustration crease Darrell Buis’ face as he sits atop a lunch table in one of Amtrak’s century-old, red brick workhouses.
Three decades is a long time to wonder whether your job is going to last.
But that’s how long it’s been since Buis, a welder, followed his father into the train business at the Amtrak maintenance facility in Beech Grove.
Usually, the threat comes from Washington, D.C., where the federal government frequently debates whether to continue subsidizing the train service. But this year, the ire of many of Beech Grove’s nearly 640 Amtrak workers is focused on Beech Grove city officials.
Beech Grove Mayor Joe Wright and the City Council have remained noticeably indifferent to the maintenance facility as Congress debates whether to continue Amtrak funding. Meanwhile, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Julia Carson have said they will work to keep Amtrak funding and protect local jobs.
Last month, about 150 Amtrak employees and supporters went to a Beech Grove City Council meeting to vent their frustration and ask for a resolution of support.
They have yet to receive it.
A big reason for Beech Grove’s hesitancy is that Amtrak pays no property tax. It hasn’t since Congress awarded it tax-exemption status in 1997.
That’s a big deal, Wright said, causing Beech Grove to miss out on more than $1 million a year in tax revenue.
He said Beech Grove residents have the highest property tax rate in Marion County — even more than in Center Township, an area in central Indianapolis that includes tax-exempt property such as IUPUI, state buildings and parks.
Wright, who came into office in 2004, inherited a $260,643 emergency property tax shortfall loan the city had secured in 2000 from the state’s rainy-day funds.
Payments on the principal of that loan begin next year. Beech Grove spokesman Tim Showalter said the city is concerned how it will cover the cost.
Wright said the city doesn’t want the Amtrak facility to close, but it wants to be prepared just in case.
A redevelopment plan for the Amrak site features a mix of residential, office retail and industrial development. The plan, developed by Wabash Scientific Inc. and The Schneider Corp., projects employment of 1,800 to 2,700 jobs, compared to Amtrak’s 639.
Steve Johnson, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, said Beech Grove officials are taking a rational view.
But he said redevelopment is never an easy or sure thing, especially in an area that grew up around a certain industry.
Buis and other Amtrak employees have endured uncertainty for years.
“When I came to work here in 1973, my father said, ‘Now, I just want you to work here (during) college, because I don’t think this is going to last very long.’ ” Buis said.
But many workers would still be surprised to see the facility close.
House OKs funding
Among the reasons for their optimism is a U.S. House vote in June to include $1.2 billion for Amtrak in the 2006 federal budget (the Senate is expected to vote after Labor Day).
And talk earlier this year of moving the Amtrak facility to Michigan may have been just that. “We have not received any formal proposals for us to relocate our Beech Grove facilities anywhere, much less Michigan,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
But resentment toward Beech Grove city officials continues.
“In no city does Amtrak pay property tax, but in no city across the country have I had this displeasure to attend a meeting where the mayor and council, regardless of political affiliation, have been against a shop in the city. I just don’t get it,” said Richard Zeigler, a general chairman with Sheet Metal Workers International Association, representing railroad workers in Beech Grove and elsewhere. He worked at the facilities for 25 years.
Beyond taxes
Amtrak supporters say officials should look at more than just property taxes when assessing its impact on the community. Ray Lang, Amtrak’s government affairs director, said 100 Amtrak workers live in Beech Grove and that the facility has at least $900,000 in contracts with Beech Grove businesses.
However, the city is unsure of those numbers. Beech Grove council member Ingle Harris said he’s taking a group of council members to tour the facility and clarify the numbers.
“There is sympathy for workers,” Wright said. “But local officials don’t have decision-making power as (does) Congress.”
For now, he said that the city is focusing its attention on the property adjoining Amtrak, which he said could be developed while Amtrak is still operating.