The proposed 2027 budget for Indianapolis and Marion County is set to be approved. The City-County Council will give a final vote on the budget Monday, Oct. 19 at a full council meeting.
The $1.9 billion budget covers four broad areas described by city staff as public safety, infrastructure, responsible governance and quality of life. The spending proposal is an increase from the $1.7 billion adopted budget last year.
Those buckets include funding for dozens of city and county agencies, including the Office of the Mayor and the council. Spending themes highlight policing, gun violence prevention, housing and personnel.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett introduced the budget at a lively City-County Council meeting Aug. 10. The meeting was packed with city staff, police officers, and local residents, including people opposed to data centers.
The full budget was discussed at committee meetings in recent months. The council must approve an adopted budget with at least 13 of 25 total council members voting for it on Oct. 19.
Earlier this month, President Maggie Lewis said she expected some amendments. But so far, the budget has not changed since it was introduced, according to Doran Moreland, the council’s chief of staff.
The budget came along with two additional proposals. One was a fiscal ordinance the Council passed in September to fund a variety of initiatives including a data center research committee and $4 million in election equipment upgrades. The other is a $27.5 million general obligation bond backed by property tax debt.
Here are some of the main takeaways.
Public safety
Public safety agencies receive the highest share of funding in the budget. Those agencies include the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indianapolis Fire Department, the Office of Public Health and Safety, and Marion County Emergency Services Agency.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has a proposed budget of nearly $400 million. The Indianapolis Fire Department will receive nearly $300 million. Combined, they account for over 50% of city agency funding.
For IMPD, the budget supports a total of 1,743 officers (the city was below that goal at 1,383 officers as of Aug. 31). It also includes funding for policing technology like license plate readers, and public safety, dash and body-worn cameras.
At a public hearing on Oct. 5, residents spoke about concerns over IMPD’s use of Flock surveillance cameras after five officers were charged with misusing the technology to search for ex-partners and others.
The city increased pay for first-year officers. The support will also cover $6.5 million in new patrol vehicles. The general obligation bond, paid for by approved backing of debt, would in part go to constructing a new IMPD North District headquarters at 38th Street and Sherman Drive.
The budget will also fund a total of 1,276 firefighters and $7.2 million for IFD apparatuses, as well as new staff at the Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency’s 911 call center.
Office of Public Health and Safety and housing
The Mayor’s Office and the Office of Public Health and Safety have made a concerted effort through city programs to address housing and homelessness in Indianapolis. OPHS is allocated $29.5 million in the budget, including for the city’s master leasing program, which partners with landlords to offer permanent supportive housing to unhoused residents. There are plans to add 100 units.
Streets to Home Indy pairs unhoused residents living in camps with housing, including through the city’s master leasing program. Indianapolis housed over 200 people through this initiative as of July 1.
Hogsett is also asking for funds to operate the new low-barrier Housing Hub, planned to open in the second half of 2027. The hub will offer shelter and centralize supportive resources for residents experiencing homelessness. It’s partially funded by a $20 million grant from a state housing agency.
Other facilities serve other purposes. $2.2 million from the fiscal ordinance introduced with the budget would equip an unused portion of the Assessment Intervention Center for year-round winter contingency. The Family and Youth Intervention Center is intended to reduce youth incarceration and create a safe space for children. It also would receive some funding.
Other programs include the Tenant Advocacy Program, which offers free legal aid to tenants facing evictions; the Homeowner Repair Program, for fixing 90 additional homes; and the Vacant to Vibrant initiative, which rehabs properties for housing.
Criminal justice
Criminal justice services make up more than $360 million in spending. This includes the Marion Superior and Civil Courts, the prosecutor’s and public defender’s offices, Community Corrections, Forensic Services, and the coroner’s and sheriff’s offices.
Beyond generally funding of these agencies, the budget notes some of the funding will go to the Forensic Services agency for laboratory services to outsource some cases. The money will also pay for salary increases for the public defender’s and prosecutor’s offices, and child support services.
A move to save costs at the public defender’s office by reducing external file storage is also funded in the budget. $150,000 is allocated for document destruction work under the fiscal ordinance the council passed last month
Personnel
The city struggled to retain staff during the pandemic, but reforms to compensation, labor contracts and new policies for non-union employees are in the budget. The city aims to reduce turnover in non-union employees by incentivizing tenure.
There are new labor contracts with the Mayor’s Action Center, the 911 Call Center and other frontline staff.
There is also a 22% increase in pension contributions for public safety officers, increases in the worker’s comp program, and higher jail populations because of delayed transfers to state prisons.
Violence prevention
The Gun Violence Reduction Strategy intervenes and provides programming for those affected by and at risk for the effects of gun violence. Hogsett says this strategy has led to an over 57% decline in murders and should continue. The budget allocates $4.5 million to the effort.
It also includes funding for the Clinician Led Community Response team, staffed by mental health professionals who respond to people in crisis, which covers Marion County.
Infrastructure and neighborhood investments
The Department of Public Works receives a large portion in the budget — over $335 million total. Its annual budget has jumped from $79 million in 2016.
Infrastructure funding included a plan to match state money for road improvements, but the council rejected it. The excise surtax and wheel tax proposal will allocate $50 million in city funding to meet a state match that will bring $100 million to repair crumbling roads in Marion County. Hogsett vetoed the proposal because he said it would burden financially-strapped residents, but he was overruled by the council on Aug. 10.
The city’s infrastructure expenses have many other components. The department’s 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan will address 1,500 lane miles on roads. The budget includes $267 million for roads, bridges and greenways improvements and $39.2 million for stormwater systems upgrades across neighborhoods.
The city said maintaining a sufficient budget for DPW’s fleet “has been a longstanding challenge” because of staffing for heavy equipment leading to outsourcing and fuel costs. $5.2 million will cover DPW equipment.
The property tax debt-backed general obligation fund would also go toward renovations to the largest DPW operations facility on West Street.
Finally, the budget also includes increased funding for Animal Care Services. Established in 2025, the agency includes funding for veterinarian services and staffing for the new animal shelter, which opened in May and is almost double the size of the previous facility.
Education
Indianapolis Public Schools and other school corporations are separate from the city budget and not included. But the budget does include some money for education initiatives.
The Indy Achieves program, which provides scholarships for Indianapolis residents pursuing post-secondary degrees or credentials, would receive $1.5 million.
Circle City Readers is a program that seeks to address literacy gaps in K-3 education through tutoring. The office’s data shows improvements in reading proficiency. The fiscal ordinance included $400,000 to fund its spring semester, which the council passed last month.
Parks improvement
Indy Parks & Recreation gets nearly $54 million in the proposed budget. Parks funding remains stagnant for the department that has seen an infusion in funding over recent years.
Funding from the fiscal ordinance includes $2.1 million in one-time capital requests, which would cover hard court renovations at 14 parks, add safety cameras to and renovate an ADA-accessible playground.
The big financial picture
The city projects revenues to exceed the $1.9 billion in expenditures by about $40,000.
Constraints on drafting a balanced budget include a 6% reduction, or about a $2.6 million loss, in tax revenues from the state distributed to local governments, due to legislative changes
There is also a 20% reduction in state grant funding for community corrections programming. Expenses for core services also grew due to inflation and the labor market.
The Office of Finance and Management projected the city will end 2026 with a $402 million fund balance.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassely@wfyi.org
