Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indianapolis City-County Council members are considering a more than $27 million spring fiscal package, much of which is earmarked for public works projects.
Indianapolis-Marion County Controller Abby Hanson presented the package to councilors on the Administration and Finance Committee on Wednesday, detailing how the funds, made up of local income taxes, would be spent. Of the request, $19.7 million is slated for the Department of Public Works.
The majority of that total is for capital commitments, but other funds are for increased snow removal, road safety efforts and forest acquisition—areas in which Indianapolis residents and councilors have demanded investment. It also includes $2 million as a required contribution to the city’s rainy day fund.
Councilors on the Administration and Finance Committee voted 6-2 to recommend the proposal’s approval to the full council. Democratic Councilor Maggie Lewis abstained from voting.
Here’s the breakdown of how the city expects to use the funds:
Infrastructure: $14.2 million
The Department of Public Works will use the biggest allotment, $8 million, to fund capital improvements. That $8 million is the result of a 2023 law that gave Indianapolis more funding for roads previously not counted in the state’s road funding formula.
Republican Minority Leader Michael-Paul Hart said his caucus plans to introduce an amendment to reallocate some of this funding to pay for strip-patching of some of the city’s worst roads.
DPW will pay another $5 million into a three-year, $15 million commitment to stormwater improvements along Washington Street for IndyGo’s Blue Line.
The final $1.2 million will fund completion of a new solid waste garage.
Snow removal: $4 million
As part of the city’s new new snow-plowing policy, DPW will spend $2 million on plows, which Hanson said will be smaller vehicles that can also be used for road repairs in the summer.
Also the result of the revised snow plow policy, the city will earmark $2 million to pay outside contractors to plow roads. DPW uses its vehicles and workforce to plow major thoroughfares, but contractors are needed to address other streets. Hanson said that funding would roll over to the next budget if it is not used.
Forest preservation, road safety: $1.5 million
Councilors have urged the administration to preserve urban forests, namely by passing a special resolution—which does not carry any monetary value—to purchase privately-owned urban forests.
Mike Oles, formerly the director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, said the $1 million transfer to the city’s stormwater fund shows the council is “moving the ball forward” on forest preservation.
Councilors will have to approve acquisitions over a certain threshold.
Another $500,000 allocation for road safety improvements will be used to implement changes to dangerous intersections as suggested by the city’s Fatal Crash Review Team, working toward Indianapolis’ goal of zero road deaths by 2035.
Park maintenance: $2 million
This includes landscaping at 33 parks, improvements to 60 courts for sports like basketball, tennis and pickleball at 28 parks and new site amenities like picnic tables, benches and trash cans.
Metropolitan development: $2.5 million
The Department of Metropolitan Development is slated to receive $2 million for a city-run homeowner repair program. Another $500,000 would be divvied out among cultural districts like the Broad Ripple Village Association and the Mass Ave Cultural District.
Miscellaneous: $1 million
An additional $1 million will be split three ways:
- $100,000 to the Office of Finance and Management for a facility assessment of the Duvall Residential Center
- $300,000 to pay outstanding invoices from law firm Fisher Phillips related to the investigation into Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration’s handling of harassment allegations
- $600,000 to the Mayor’s Office for the 2025 cohort of the Circle City Readers program.
The full council will vote on the proposal on June 9.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
$300K for invoices related to Mayor Joe’s frisky staff?
How about they all put down the bottle and get to work. I’m tired of the condition of our city under your watch.
+1
$15 million for the Blue Line by us tax payers, after it was sold to us that the project is all federal funding. $2M for homeowner repair?!? Wow, I could use some of that tax payer money for my home. And I hope Mike Oles realizes the city will never buy any forests unless the forests are donated to the city.
Sounds like Michael Paul-Hart has the only worthwhile proposal for more street repair funding!
Nobody ever said that the Blue Line was “all Federal funding.” They’ve been clear from the get-go that Federal funding required a local match and that the local match would be large because of all of the supporting drainage work that is required. This has been a discussion for years. It’s why we passed the transit referendum in 2016. I have no problems with a little extra cash being put towards a large project to ensure that it gets done the right way.
Also, that home repair program goes towards low-income homeowners who need help building equity. The City also gets that money back over time, and then some, because the repairs increase the improved value of the property.
The City’s financial investment is to improve its own stormwater infrastructure. It is just being done in conjunction with Blue Line. Combining two large infrastructure projects into one = savings, efficiencies and less disruption.