Indy passes $1.4B budget with record public safety spending

The Indianapolis City-County Council passed the $1.4 billion city budget Monday night with bipartisan support, a package that includes record-high public safety spending, and significant investment in infrastructure and mental health response.

"The bipartisan passage of next year’s budget is a major victory for Indianapolis residents, as we invest unprecedented resources towards public safety, chart a bold vision for the future of infrastructure, and enhance quality of life in neighborhoods throughout Marion County," Mayor Hogsett said in a statement.

No tax increase is included in the balanced budget.

Indianapolis budget seeks to increase hiring and retention of city employees

The budget seeks to tackle long-standing hiring woes faced by city departments that were exacerbated during the pandemic by raising wages.

To boost police recruitment, IMPD's starting salary for first-year officers will increase 16% to $61,829, with a signing bonus for new officers of $10,000. 

IMPD has struggled with hiring and retention of police officers since at least 2018, and the problem was worsened during the pandemic when many staff in the police department took early retirement payouts.

Investment in public safety and mental health

The budget includes record spending on public safety, devoting 22% of it to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The budget also allocates $2 million for a 24-hour clinician-led emergency response team that will respond instead of police officers when residents experience nonviolent mental health crises.

New infrastructure, roads investment

The budget includes a 5-year, $1.1 billion plan to improve roads, bridges, trails and sidewalks.

Notable road projects include South Emerson Avenue, Post Road on the east side, Kentucky Avenue on the southwest side, and the Keystone Avenue bridge over the White River on the north side.

It will also provide funding for a new traffic engineer to review fatal traffic accidents.

Funding for residents to go back to school

The Indy Achieves Completion grant program will also gain an additional $500,000 through the budget to fund 200 more grants for Marion County residents to re-enroll in school by covering outstanding bills at Ivy Tech Community College or IUPUI.

This year, about 500 students are receiving grants through the program.

1 councilor voted 'no'

The budget was divided into seven separate sections that councilors voted on individually. The vote on the majority of the budget passed 21-1 and the remaining six sections passed unanimously with a few abstentions.

The sole "no" vote against the bulk of the budget was cast by Councilor Ethan Evans, who also was the lone vote against the budget last year. One of the more progressive members of the council, Evans left the Democratic Party in March and remains unaffiliated, saying that he felt he had been "shut out" by the party in his effort to implement solutions supported by his progressive base.

At Monday's meeting, he cited concerns that the budget does not sufficiently address the affordable housing crisis and homelessness. In a statement published on Twitter, he said he thinks the budget overfunds the police department and does not adequately address the underfunding of the public defender's office.

He also called for more investment in improving pedestrian and cycling infrastructure throughout the city amid the uptick in fatal pedestrian accidents this year.

IndyStar reporter Rachel Fradette contributed reporting.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.