Council passes city budget without unanimous support

More than $1.6 billion in city spending was approved by the Indianapolis City-County Council Monday night.  The final budget vote did not come without opposition.

The 2025 budget proposal passed with a vote of 16 to 9.  Democrat Councilor Carlos Perkins voted against the proposal and said the community needs more help.

“This overall budget disproportionately falls short in addressing urgent needs in our community,” Perkins said.

Councilors mentioned a lack of investment in issues including housing, clinician-led response teams, urban forests and the arts. 

All six Republican councilors voted no on the budget and said more needed to be spent on city infrastructure. Republican Councilor Josh Bain has supported previous budgets.

“I just think at this point maybe it’s time to try something new, maybe we need to show that we are not ok with this budget,” Bain said.

Public works receives a large portion of the budget, more than 200 million dollars, for infrastructure and traffic safety measures.

The largest amount of spending, over 40 percent, is allocated to public safety and supports the salary for more than 1,700 police officers. The city has not been able to staff that number.

The city budget also includes unassigned or rainy day funds that Councilor Jessie Brown said are needed now.

“Ask the people living in tents in my district, this is a rainy day right now,” Brown said.

The final budget vote includes approval for city corporations including IndyGo, the public library and the airport.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org.