Hamilton County Councilman Mark Hall’s February 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.

The month of February I worked remotely from the Sunshine State. It worked okay, but admittedly it was a bit odd. Attending meetings virtually was something new for me regarding county business. While Teams and Zoom virtual meetings seem to dominate my business meetings these days, and Facetime chats with grandkids are a way for us to stay connected, this is the first time I’ve been working on council and not in town. It worked, but it felt weird.

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In addition to the County Council public meetings, February work included: a Central Indiana Water Planning meeting, a County Council Executive session, two Board of Commissioners public meetings, and two Noblesville Town Council meetings.

The personnel committee meeting was moved to a poll of the members for two position reclassifications. Both were approved and moved on to the full council for final approval.

Although the Finance Committee didn’t meet during the month, we have had plenty of communication and study during February preparing for the state legislature to finalize property tax reform. As I wrote last month, the pending legislation has the potential to impact county budgets tremendously. The most recent reports are that we are not close to a final version of the bill, but plan for a reduction in property tax revenue.

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This month I received two constituent service requests and two very nice notes from neighbors expressing their appreciation for this column and for being transparent in government service.

One request was regarding zoning and forced annexation into the City of Noblesville. This constituent owns property near a newly announced large residential development on the east side of Noblesville. As research revealed, the property in question was in Noblesville’s city planning jurisdiction. It was not a part of the announced growth, nor was it listed on any of the development plans. We encouraged him to speak with the City of Noblesville as they have jurisdiction.

The second request was directly related to property taxes. The constituent wanted to know how his property tax rate was calculated, and how that rate was established by the State of Indiana and Hamilton County. He also wanted to know how much of that went to the city of Noblesville, Hamilton County, Noblesville Schools, and any other taxing authority (Parks, Solid Waste, Libraries). After some research, I provided the taxpayer with the breakdown by percentages as per what is published on the Hamilton County Auditor’s webpage.

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Noteworthy items from February include an update on the Director of Council Operations position. After several rounds of interviews, screening, background and reference checks, the council has settled on a candidate and made an offer to an individual to fill the position. They are scheduled to begin employment on Monday, March 17.

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The most noteworthy topic from February continues to be 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. 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 is my timesheet. This is where my time went during February 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.