INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis City-County Council passed Mayor Joe Hogsett’s 2018 proposed budget during a Monday night meeting.
The 2018 budget, also referred to as Proposal 225, passed 21-2.
Hogsett originally introduced the budget in April, which his administration called "the first sustainably structurally balanced budget in 10 years."
The proposal includes funding increases for several departments such as the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Department of Public Works, among others.
The passage of the proposal will bring 86 new police officers to the city and more than $3 million will be set aside for streetlights.
Body cameras for the police department were not included.
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Hogsett released a statement following the passage of the proposal:
“Tonight, twenty-one leaders on the City-County Council provided a victory to Indianapolis taxpayers by passing our city’s first balanced budget in a decade.
This bipartisan group accomplished what we set out to do at the beginning of this administration: hold the line on spending and erase the structural budget deficit without selling city assets, relying on one-time cash infusions, or raising taxes to make ends meet. Importantly, those who voted for this budget have invested in neighborhood safety by funding 86 new police officers and 40 new firefighters – and neighborhood infrastructure with $120 million in street, sidewalk, and storm water improvements.
I appreciate President Maggie Lewis’ guidance over the last two months, as well as the thoughtful deliberation of caucus leadership and committee chairs. Our city is a better place tonight thanks to twenty-one Councilors who, when given the choice, cast their votes for Indianapolis taxpayers rather than partisanship and politics.”
One of the biggest debates the City-County Council had on the budget surrounded the services of the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
In August, Marion County Sheriff John Layton announced arrestee transport services would end January 2018.
Layton released a statement on the budget proposal:
Over the past few months, as the City-County Council has considered the 2018 budget, the topic of arrestee services—including transport, medical security and identification of arrestees— has been widely discussed. As a result of these meetings and discussions, questions have been raised about the funding of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
For the record, Marion County is the only county where the Sheriff provides “Arrestee Services."
These services are not required by law, resulting from the creation of IMPD and the transfer of control to Mayor Ballard. Unfortunately, unlike every other county in the state, in Marion County, the decision to arrest someone who needs medical care does not carry with it the responsibility to pay the medical bills or provide security while an arrestee is hospitalized.
In addition, transfer back of the arrestee transportation responsibilities has been discussed for years. Prior to the creation of IMPD, each law enforcement agency in the county transported its own arrestees. No funding came to the MCSO with this responsibility. With the closure of court operations at the APC, it was a good time to address these chronic issues and seek to take advantage of potential savings which will result in the transfer of arrestee responsibilities.
The Sheriff’s Office is working jointly with the Mayor’s Office on these issues to find a solution—and believe that an audit by an independent third-party accounting firm will help us collectively—the Sheriff’s Office, the Council and the Mayor’s Office—determine the appropriate funding level for the MCSO.The Sheriff’s Office welcomes and encourages such an audit.
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