Hamilton County Councilman Mark Hall’s January Timesheet

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’s important to me that you know what is being worked on as transparently as possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you’ll 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, January work included: a joint Board of Commissioners and County Council Executive session and working session, a Board of Commissioners public meeting, the annual Liability Insurance renewal meeting, a Finance Committee meeting, a Cicero Town council meeting, a quarterly insurance meeting, an emergency personnel committee meeting, and a Noblesville Town Council meeting.

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This month I received six constituent service requests. Five requests were specific to the 236^th Street project in Jackson Township. The questions were either related to the redirection of traffic, the trail along 236^th, the bridge and road repair on 236^th, or the intersection of 236^th and U.S. 31.

People wanted to understand why the county website had not been updated, how the traffic redirection plan was arrived at, what is the current project status and when does the county expect the project to be completed.

Service requests require research from the appropriate department and then providing the response to the constituent.

In this situation, given the number of requests and the frustration in their questions, I decided that making county officials available at a public meeting was the best course of action. I arranged for the County Engineer to present the current project status and answer questions at a Cicero Town Council public meeting. I streamed the meeting on Facebook for those who were unable to attend in person.

The room was full of interested citizens. The County Engineer, Joel Thurman, did a wonderful job presenting the project details and answering questions from the public; he shares our collective frustration over the project. The Hamilton County Highway Director, Brad Davis, also attended and provided several answers during Q&A.

One primary reason for delays has been the relocation of utilities in the area. Twice, assigned crews on our project have been pulled off our project, temporarily reassigned to emergency power restoration projects in the south after storms. Each of these temporary reassignments costs the project several weeks.

The other constituent request was specific to a regulated drain in Sheridan and flooding that a citizen was experiencing. After speaking with the County Surveyor, he addressed the question with me and then directly with the individual property owner.

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Noteworthy items from January included more meetings and research for Hamilton County’s Domestic Violence Center. As an update on last month’s Director of Council Operations position, several candidates have been through first- and second-round interviews. I was able to participate by video and expect that we will wrap up the search by the end of February.

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I forgot to report that last month I attended a portion of an attempted murder trial in Circuit Court. Given that our population growth requires more judges, we need more courts. Apart from the intrigue of observing a felony trial, my research includes attending court, watching operations, and comparing how we operate against best practices and state-of-the-art technology. New County Courts will be modernized with improved safety, recording and presentation technology.

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The most noteworthy topic from January is Property Tax reform. To be clear, we need property tax reform, and I am told that some form of property tax and/or local income tax reform is coming from this legislative session. Senate Bill 1 (SB1) is making its way through the statehouse and in its initial form the impact on Hamilton County revenue is substantial, a 45 percent estimated reduction. The impact on local governments, townships, and schools will also be big. My time has been spent researching the various bills and their impact on Hamilton County. Potential changes in revenue require purposeful advance planning.

For now, until we understand the final impact to Hamilton County, my position is to pull back on long-term spending commitments that have not already been funded.

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This month included attending more events to honor experienced county employees who retired.

It was my honor to represent you this past month at a lunch with Sheridan Town Councilor, Levi Shrock, at a meeting with David West, the new Director of Hamilton County Tourism, and at a meeting with Congresswoman Victoria Spartz’s office advocating for Hamilton County future issues that will require federal assistance to achieve.

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This is my timesheet. This is where my time went during January 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’s 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’s 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.