Urban forests, the arts, mental health: Community makes its voice heard on proposed city budget

The Indianapolis City-County Council met on Monday night, and the public had its last chance to comment on the city's proposed $1.6 billion dollar budget for 2025.

Community members held signs and lined up to give their input on the proposal at the meeting.

Environmental activists spoke out about their desire for more funding for preservation of urban forests. The Indiana Forest Alliance had originally called for $6 million to purchase urban forests. That money is not included in the budget.

“If you ask anyone in Indiana if they would have warehouses or forests, you can guess what the answer would be,” said Sarah Swank. “I know from personal experience and from a lot of the people in the room that they are in agreement, we want to protect the few forests that we have left.”

The budget does include $25 million to be equally dispersed between each of the councilors. The 25 officials will be able to take their $1 million to spend on parks or infrastructure projects. This money could be spent on greenspace.

Other residents who spoke about the budget supported more funding for the arts. The Indy Arts Council had requested an increase in funding from $1.3 million to $3 million for the arts, which is not included in the budget proposal.

“Artists make our city more vibrant and colorful. The fact that $1.3 million is being allocated out of a budget of $1.65 billion is egregious,” said Stephen Lane.

Some residents also said they’re concerned that essential services including mental health care, housing, and public transportation are underfunded in the budget.

“For instance, the mobile crisis action team, which provides critical mental health support will see no expansion despite its proven need,” said resident Bridget O’Reilly.

Over 40% of the proposed budget goes towards public safety. Infrastructure also makes up a large portion of the budget. 

City-County Councilor Jared Evans said it’s time the city prioritizes the needs of its citizens.

“I think citizens are getting fed up that we are not committing ourselves to figuring out ways to fund these quality-of-life initiatives, these things that make our citizens happy to live in our city,” Allen said.

The council also passed a proposal that increases the pay of elected officials. The proposal would raise the pay of numerous city leaders in 2025. It delays a pay raise for the mayor until 2028.

A final vote on the budget will take place on October 7.