Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett is unveiling a budget his staff says closes the city’s structural deficit, while spending more on roads and infrastructure.
The $1.13 billion spending plan includes $120 million for streets, roads, sidewalks, and bridges, an increase of more than $35 million. There is also money for 86 new police officers and 40 firefighters.
The administration says it managed to close the $26 million structural deficit through a combination of new revenue from increased property values as well as reducing spending by doing such things as eliminating vacancies, renegotiating contracts, debt refinancing and making changes to the city’s information technology system.
The city will get nearly $20 million in new gas tax revenue as part of the tax increase the Legislature passed earlier this year.
The city will close out the year with a surplus just north of $200,000. The proposal also includes money to raise the minimum wage for city employees to $13 an hour which was passed overwhelmingly by the City-County Council.
The Mayor formally introduced the budget at tonight’s city-county council meeting. You can hear his address in the Leon-Tailored Audio above. It runs about 15 minutes.
