Jeff Wolfe (Taxpayer UNfriendly)

Watchdog Lebanon Home Page Jeff Wolfe Campaign Contributions History

Address: 201 E. Ulen Drive, Lebanon, IN 46052 
Phone: (765) 482-7560
E-mail: wolfe.jeff@comcast.net  
Website: http://wolfeforcommissioner.com/ 

Candidates in the May 3, 2016, primary election are required to report within 48 hours campaign contributions received after April 8 that total at least $1,000.

As of Noon April 22, Boone County Commissioner District 3 Candidate Jeff Wolfe had received the following “large contributions” since April 8: 
Beam Longest & Neff, LLC – $1,000 on April 19,
Midwest Financial Company LLC – $1,000 on April 19,
Ameco LLC – $1,000 on April 19,
Friends of Matt c/o Matt Whetstone – $2,000 on April 19.

Beam Longest & Neff is an engineering firm that would like to be awarded Boone County service contracts: see http://b-l-n.com/. Beam Longest & Neff also made a $700 campaign contribution to Candidate Wolfe on December 22, 2011.

The address listed on the large contributions campaign finance report for Midwest Financial Company LLC is 7399 N. Shadeland Avenue #109, Indianapolis, IN 46250. The listed address for Ameco LLC is 201 S. Franklin Road, Greenwood, IN 46143. Ronald Ellis is identified as the Managing Member of Ameco LLC, which provides accounting, auditing, bookkeeping, and management consulting services. Ronald Ellis is also identified as Principal of Midwest Financial Company LLC, an investment advisory service with an address of 201 S. Franklin Road, Greenwood, IN 46143. Midwest Financial Company LLC and Ameco LLC give every appearance through Ronald Ellis of wanting to secure Boone County service contracts or otherwise profit from business activity.

Matthew D. Whetstone is both a County Commissioner in Hendricks County and the founding member of 1816 inc. According to http://www.1816inc.com/, 1816 inc. offers a full range of government relations services, including: legislative and executive branch lobbying, regulatory affairs, rule making, procurement, public relations, and association management. 1816 inc. clients are helped to anticipate, plan, and implement major projects that are affected by government funding, regulation, or legislation.

Candidate Wolfe and Hendricks County Commissioner Whetstone are partners in the effort to extend the Ronald Reagan Parkway 9.5 miles from Hendricks County Road 600 North alongside State Road 267 in Boone County to I-65 Exit 133. The project, which is included in the Boone County Comprehensive Plan, is expected to cost about $100 million if this portion of the Ronald Reagan Parkway is constructed as a limited access highway with underpasses and overpasses. The stated goal is to complete the project in the next 5 to 7 years. The Boone County portion of the total cost will be $46 million. If local funding is limited to 20 percent with 80 percent from federal funding sources, then Boone County would have to come up with from $1.314 million to $1.840 million in local dollars each of the next 5 to 7 years. The Boone County Council has thus far allocated $800,000 to the Ronald Reagan Parkway project.

The draft of an interlocal agreement was considered by the Boone County Commissioners and Hendricks County Commissioners at a joint workshop on April 12. The Boone County Commissioners were to approve the interlocal agreement on April 18. Details of the interlocal agreement were not revealed during the April 12 workshop. The text of the interlocal agreement is NOT posted on either the Boone County website or the Hendricks County website.

This Ronald Reagan Parkway project is described by Commissioner Whetstone as “a critical part of our infrastructure” for economic development. Candidate Wolfe stated, “We are going to look at every possible option for funding.” One of the funding options presented at the April 12 workshop was the imposition of a new $50 Boone County wheel tax. Imposing a regressive Boone County wheel tax to complete the Ronald Reagan Parkway project would be Taxpayer UNfriendly because of the nature of the development that would likely occur along the Parkway.

Development along the Ronald Reagan Parkway would likely be similar to what has occurred adjacent to Whitestown Parkway (on old State Road 334 at I-65 Exit 130). There are mostly restaurants, retail establishments, a motel, and apartment buildings located near the Whitestown Parkway. These businesses pay low wages to employees while creating suburban sprawl – this type of “economic development” does not justify the imposition of a regressive Boone County wheel tax. Candidate Wolfe overlooks the fact that the market for low wage starter jobs in central Boone County is already saturated when he states, “It is very easy to say we only want to attract high paying jobs to our communities and while that is important it is also important to include the needs of the unskilled laborers.”

Why is Matt Whetstone the second largest campaign contributor to Candidate Wolfe (less than only the $2,500 contributed by the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors)? It is hoped that Commissioner Whetstone would not commit a conflict of interest transgression by seeking a no-bid contract from Boone County for his 1816 inc. business firm to help secure funding for the Ronald Reagan Parkway project. At any rate, it is clear that Commissioner Whetstone is a long-time developer-first advocate who sees a very willing partner in Candidate Wolfe.

See http://www.finplaneducation.net/jeff_wolfe_contributions.htm for additional details regarding how Candidate Wolfe's campaign contributions predominately come from businesses, business political action committees, and business employees who want to secure Boone County service contracts or otherwise profit from business activity.

All but $300.00 of Candidate Wolfe’s $5,925.00 total campaign contributions from January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2014, were itemized direct contributions from businesses, business political action committees, and business employees who want to secure Boone County service contracts.

Candidate Wolfe's $1,000 campaign contribution in 2015 was from the Friends of Huck Lewis political committee.

All but $1,025.00 of Candidate Wolfe’s $5,125.00 total campaign contributions in 2016 were itemized direct contributions from businesses, business political action committees, and business employees who want to secure Boone County service contracts or otherwise profit from business activity.

See http://www.finplaneducation.net/jeff_wolfe_contributions.htm for the details regarding Candidate Wolfe's campaign contributions.

1. What will be your public service priorities if you are elected to be a Boone County Commissioner? ANSWER: Has not responded.

2. Is the county spending enough of its available resources to maintain and improve the county roads in the unincorporated areas of the county? BACKGROUND: The 2013-15 State Budget made better use of the existing state Gasoline Tax and state Sales Tax revenues from gasoline purchases to significantly increase Boone County transportation funding. State revenues deposited into the Boone County Motor Vehicle Highway and Local Road & Street funds increased 38 percent from $2,900,956 in 2013 to $4,016,363 in 2015. However, only $2,888,947 was spent from the 2015 Boone County Motor Vehicle Highway and Local Road & Street funds – $1,127,416 was unspent and added to the cash reserves (the December 31, 2015, cash balances in the Boone County Motor Vehicle Highway and Local Road & Street funds totaled $2,933,169). ANSWER: Has not responded.

3. What is an appropriate level of county cash reserves compared to the county’s annual operating budget? BACKGROUND: The August 11, 2010, Boone County Comprehensive Financial Plan prepared by H. J. Umbaugh & Associates (a PDF version can be E-mailed on request) targets 15% as a prudent level of end-of-the-year Boone County government cash balances compared to annual operating funds disbursements. ANSWER: Has not responded.

4. Should property tax rate increases be avoided to (a) protect lower income Boone County residents with homes assessed below the 1% property tax cap from tax increases and (2) lessen Boone County units of government budget losses to property tax caps? ANSWER: Has not responded.

5. Should better use be made of the request for proposals (RFP) process to select county government service providers? ANSWER: Has not responded.

6. Is the Boone County Area Comprehensive Plan a good road map for future growth that also preserves agriculture as an economic development industry? BACKGROUND: See http://www.boonecounty.in.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=65. ANSWER: Has not responded.

7. Should upcoming board appointments by the Boone County Commissioners be announced ahead of time so interested citizens can apply? ANSWER: Has not responded.

8. Who is your current employer, and would service as a Boone County Commissioner possibly create significant conflicts related to your employment? ANSWER: Has not responded.

9. What is your campaign phone number, E-mail address, and website (or other online presence)? ANSWER: Has not responded.

10. Do you wish to make some additional comments about your candidacy? ANSWER: Has not responded.

Lebanon Economic Development Commission member Jeff Wolfe cast an unethical Yes vote on October 27, 2014, to help pass Resolution 2014-03, which distorted state law to falsely proclaim that the neighborhood surrounding the former Stokes Elementary School building at at 1005 South Meridian Street in Lebanon  is undesirable. Resolution 2014-03 was an attempt by Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis to manipulate a tax abatement for The Englewood Group to build a Stokes Commons apartments complex. It was ethically wrong for Jeff Wolfe to rubber stamp a Mayor Lewis tax abatement attempt by declaring, without hearing any evidence, that a neighborhood is undesirable for normal development and occupancy. 

County Commissioner Jeff Wolfe cast a Taxpayer UNfriendly YES vote on June 24, 2014, for Ordinance No. 2014-03. Ordinance No. 2014-03 allowed our County Council to impose an unneeded 166% increase in the county’s Cumulative Capital Development (CCD) property tax rate from $0.0125 to $0.0333. If the county’s other property tax rate components remained the same, raising the CCD property tax rate by $0.0208 would have resulted in a 9.5% increase in the Pay 2015 total county property tax rate from $0.2179 to $0.2387. The county had ample cash reserves to meet its spending needs without a CCD property tax rate increase.

Watchdog Lebanon Home Page Jeff Wolfe Campaign Contributions History

This page was last updated on 04/25/16.