INDIANAPOLIS — The City-County Council voted unanimously to approve Mayor Joe Hogsett's 2024 operating budget on Monday.
The $1.5 billion budget is the largest budget in the city's history.
The budget puts an emphasis on public safety, anti-violence initiatives, infrastructure and neighborhood improvements.
It also includes $323 million for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, to go toward higher first-year salaries, raises for veteran officers and funding for new technology.
"You've got a number of different camera options... looking forward to seeing more of that," IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said.
The budget also provides money to the city's clinician-led team, which can respond to mental health emergencies 24-7 in some parts of the city.
When it comes to infrastructure, the new budget adds to Mayor Hogsett's five-year plan to focus on neighborhood projects and pedestrian safety improvement.
Some members of the council say it's still not enough.
"We are still not even close to where we need to be," Councilor Joshua Bain said. "Even when we pass this budget, we are guaranteeing that roads in the city of Indianapolis will be in worse condition next year than they are this year. and we need to really look at this issue."
Others believe it's a step in the right direction.
"We believe that we have the money necessary to do the job next year and for the next five years with the 1.2 billion dollar plan that we have in place over the next five years in capital planned, so we're excited about that opportunity and tonight's a good night from an infrastructure perspective," Brandon Herget with the Department of Public Works said.
The budget also creates an office of equity, belonging, and inclusion, which the city says will help make sure local government reflects the people it serves.
The Republican Caucus of the Indianapolis city-county council voted in favor of the budget, but state they did not make the decision lightly. They issued the following statement:
"Tonight, we voted in favor of the proposed 2024 budget for the City of Indianapolis. Our caucus does not make this decision lightly, and we recognize that this budget does not perfectly represent our or our constituents’ priorities. However, considering our city is in the midst of a public safety crisis and the fact that IMPD is facing dangerously low staffing levels, we did not feel that it was time for a political statement. It is our hope and expectation that the money appropriated tonight will help to bring new officers on board and keep our veteran officers serving our community. Despite the increased funding in the last few budgets, the administration has failed to deliver on the promises of better public safety and hiring and retaining officers. Moving forward, it will be the focus of our caucus to ensure that the dollars allocated tonight are used for their intended purposes and in a timely manner to make sure we are not in this same position this time next year."
Here is a full breakdown of the budget, according to the Hogsett administration:
- The largest IMPD budget in history at $323 million, including increased first-year salaries to nearly $72,000, an 85% increase from 2016 and one of the highest starting salaries in the Midwest. It also includes a 3% raise for veteran IMPD officers, and investment in technology and equipment for IMPD, including dashcams and drones, and an expansion of license plate readers and public safety cameras.
- A commitment to community-based violence reduction, including funding to expand the Clinician-Led Community Response program to East District with 24/7 staffing. It makes “Peacemakers” a permanent program in the annual budget, from its original temporary federal funding source. And it includes funding to reach 60 beds at the Assessment & Intervention Center, representing a doubling of capacity at the 24/7 mental health and substance abuse response facility.
- An expansion on the Mayor’s 5-year, $1.2 billion infrastructure plan. That includes funding to support “Community-Powered Infrastructure” improvements to neighborhood infrastructure and pedestrian safety. It also includes $25 million in funding for residential streets, totaling over $100 million for residential streets in the past three years.
- Increased parks maintenance budget to build on the historic $80 million grant from Lilly Endowment for parks capital improvements, and funding for public safety cameras in 9 Indy Parks locations. It also features a $2 million in fiscal package for BNS to improve alleys, the first designated funding for alleys in recent memory. And it includes an anti-displacement pilot program in the Riverside neighborhood to limit the impact of rising assessed values, helping keep longtime neighbors on fixed incomes in their homes.
- Funding to create a new disparity study conducted by the Office of Minority and Women Business Development, updating 2019’s disparity study and putting the office on track to update studies every five years. It also creates an Office of Equity, Belonging, & Inclusion to enhance City-County efforts to ensure the local government reflects the people it serves.
More information about the budget and budgeting process is available at indy.gov/activity/city-and-county-budget.
