Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announces $1.561 billion 2024 budget
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett proposed a more than $1.561 billion 2024 budget during the August City-County Council meeting Monday night.
If passed, this will be the largest budget in the city’s history, coming in at a total of $1,561,420,993. This is an increase of nearly $100 million from last year’s budget of $1,462,055,326, making this a 6.7% increase for the city.
The budget focuses heavily on public safety, community violence reduction, infrastructure,
and neighborhoods. It will be the city’s 7th balanced budget and utilizes revenue growth to fund the budget increase, not a tax increase.
“It would provide $1.5 billion to improve public safety, enhance infrastructure, and lift the quality of life throughout the neighborhoods of Indianapolis,” said Hogsett. “All without tax increases or selling off public assets.”
The budget includes the highest Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department budget allocation at nearly $324 million, an increase of nearly 3.4% from last year’s $313 million.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office will see an increase of 12.7% to just under $130 million.
The Indianapolis Fire Department will also get a budget increase of 7.26%, totaling more than $255 million.
Also under the public safety budget is the Office of Public Health and Safety. That office is budgeted more than $30 million for 2024, a 33% increase from last year’s nearly $23 million. That office funds the Peacemakers as a part of the Violence Reduction Strategy.
“In that capacity [the Peacemakers] have helped to interrupt over 375 conflicts,” said Romy Bernard-Tucker, the Director of the Office of Public Health and Safety.
The Violence Reduction Strategy was originally funded with American Rescue Plan Act federal dollars. This budget contained $4.5 million to make this program a permanent fixture of OPHS.
“Whether connecting people to resources or stopping conflicts, Peacemakers have played a significant role in the declines we’ve seen in violence and retaliatory crimes,” Hogsett said.
The Department of Public Works is executing a five-year $1.1 billion capital plan. Next year, the department will get nearly $232 million to fix roads and make other infrastructure updates. This is a 5% increase from last year’s budget.
“On the capital side we are going to invest in our thorough fares across the county but specifically what DPW is excited about is to be able to deliver more residential streets,” said Daniel Parker the Director of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
“That includes an added $25 million for residential streets, now totaling more than $100 million since 2021,” said Hogsett.
The city is piloting a new program in the Riverside Neighborhood to help cap property tax increases. Residents over 55 who were in their homes for 10 or more years are eligible to have their property tax increases capped at 4%. This program comes as a result of Senate Bill 46, authored by state Senator Jack Sandlin.
“The law gives us an additional tool to keep longtime residents in their homes by limiting the explosive growth in property tax assessments experienced by far too many,” said Hogsett.
The budget will go up for a final vote in October but first must make its way through the committees.
The 2024 Proposed Budget document provides both the allocated budget for each department in 2023 and the revised budget after changes were made. Occasionally departments saw an increase in spending over the allocated budget.
When calculating percentage increases, New 8 used the revised budget for each department to accurately show how much each department spent.
The proposed 2024 budget can be viewed below.