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The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday unanimously approved a $1.29 billion budget for 2021
Mayor Joe Hogsett made the budget proposal in early August and council members have spent the past two months vetting it in various committees.
Also, in a late-Monday vote, the council approved a controversial proposal that calls for adding four civilians to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department General Orders Committee. The committee, which guides and approves department procedures, is currently made up of two members appointed by the police chief and one appointed by the police union.
Republican council members said adding civilian input to the committee was a good idea, but expressed concern at the major step of putting it under civilian control.
The approved budget calls for revenue and expenses that are up about $78 million from 2020’s budget. It proposes taking in $113,884 more than it spends, leading Hogsett’s administration to characterize it as the fourth consecutive balanced budget since he took office in 2016.
“This balanced budget prepares for an uncertain financial future while continuing to make investments that will keep our roads paved, our neighborhoods safe, and our community moving forward,” Hogsett said in written remarks. “Importantly, this budget also focuses investments in neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19 and builds upon existing programming aimed at addressing food access, homelessness, and mental health challenges.”
The budget includes more than $261 million for the IMPD, $158 million in road, bridge, and sidewalk infrastructure projects, and $44 million for stormwater projects.
It also aims to help the city prepare for anticipated revenue dips in future years because of the pandemic by flattening most department budgets.
Public safety initiatives and community justice services eat up the largest chunk of the budget, representing 37% and 21% of spending, respectively.
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I know the city is looking down the road a bit with buyouts, but still a bit leery of the effect of declining tax revenue thanks to Covid restrictions and letting rioters run loose during the summer. A projected (ie hoped for) surplus of $114K against a $1.27B budget isn’t even big enough to be described as a rounding error.
Two nights with some riots is hardly an entire summer. And even if bars and restaurants were at 100% capacity, most offices aren’t resuming until January, and even that is only tentative.
If COVID went away tomorrow, that would solve the city’s problems. But it isn’t.
We can all “budget” surpluses. Budgeting them is a headline for one day. The taxpayers will be paying for many years the 2020 destruction of Indianapolis. Remember the Roman emperor Nero who fiddled as Rome burnt? His spirit lives on in the mayor’s office in Indianapolis!
Anyone have a link to the actual budget documents that the City-Council approved?
All you have to do is go to indy.gov, search Budget, and the first result is what you are looking for. You have all the various 2021 Budget books. Now that wasn’t so hard was it. One url and one search word.