Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis City-County Council unanimously passes $1.561 billion budget

Published

10 months ago

October 16, 2023

Indianapolis City-County Council unanimously passes .561 billion budget

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 2024 Indianapolis and Marion County budget of more than $1.561 billion passed Monday night in a unanimous vote.

The budget is the largest in city history, and was a 6.7%% increase from the 2023 budget. The proposed spending includes the largest Indianapolis police budget to date, coming in at nearly $324 million, a 3.4% increase from 2023.

Chief Randal Taylor of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said, “That money, even though a lot of time people do not like to hear about an increase in budgets, is going to go a long way. It’s helping out our officers and helping out the community. A lot of that money is going for new officers and their salaries.”

There was concern from Council Minority Leader Brian Mowery about police recruitment and staffing levels. “I think it’s finally time where rubber meets the road when we start talking about recruiting and retention efforts, especially with IMPD,” the Republican said. “We have given eight years now of supportive budgets only to have fallen short.”

Taylor said this is a nationwide issue. “Unfortunately, all of the chiefs there are dealing with the same types of issues, finding those qualified individuals. It’s no secret we’re down a couple hundred officers. We’d like to find those people but we’re going to do our best to find them.”

The budget also focuses on infrastructure and includes a 5% increase for the Department of Public Works and allocates $232 million to the department.

“As part of the complete streets initiative that the council passed last year, all of our projects incorporate pedestrian safety elements, bike trails, sidewalks, things of that nature,” Brandon Herget, Public Works director, said. “So as we continue to deliver on those capital investments those are going to include the necessary pedestrian elements to keep that safe.”

The Office of Public Health and Safety is set to get more than $30 million with permanent funding built in for the Violence Reduction Strategy and Peace Keepers Program.

The 2024 budget is the city’s seventh balanced budget. In his August speech, Democrat Mayor Joe Hogsett noted the city is using revenue growth to fund this budget and not tax increases. Hogsett and Republican mayoral election opponent Jefferson Shreve each released a statement after the budget passed.

Tonight Mayor Joe Hogsett highlighted the City-County Council’s unanimous passage of the 2024 City-County operating budget. It represents the seventh straight balanced budget, each created and passed with broad bipartisan support. This evening’s vote represents the third budget passed with unanimous support during Mayor Hogsett’s time in office. All of Mayor Hogsett’s budgets have been approved without a tax increase or the selling of public assets.
“I want to thank President Osili, Vice President Adamson, Leaders Lewis and Mowery, and all councillors for their significant collaboration and support of our spending priorities,” said Mayor Hogsett. “The passage of this budget is a major victory for Indianapolis residents, as we invest unprecedented resources towards law enforcement and public safety, reinforce our commitment to community-based violence reduction, transform infrastructure at the large-scale and community level, and improve neighborhoods throughout our city.”
The first budget since 2019 without significant federal COVID funding support, Mayor Hogsett’s proposed 2024 budget accelerates the city’s momentum, prioritizing key investments in law enforcement, violence reduction, infrastructure, and neighborhoods to make Indianapolis safer and stronger. The total budget is more than $1.5 billion dollars and features the following:

The largest IMPD budget in history at $323 million, including increased first-year salaries to nearly $72,000, an 85% increase from 2016 and one of the highest starting salaries in the Midwest. It also includes a 3% raise for veteran IMPD officers, and investment in technology and equipment for IMPD, including dashcams and drones, and an expansion of license plate readers and public safety cameras.

A continued commitment to community-based violence reduction, including funding to expand the Clinician-Led Community Response program to East District with 24/7 staffing. It makes Mayor Hogsett’s gun violence reduction strategy (“Peacemakers”) a permanent program in the annual budget, from its original temporary federal funding source. And it includes funding to reach 60 beds at the Assessment & Intervention Center, representing a doubling of capacity at the 24/7 mental health and substance abuse response facility.

An expansion on the Mayor’s 5-year, $1.2 billion infrastructure plan. That includes funding to support “Community-Powered Infrastructure” improvements to neighborhood infrastructure and pedestrian safety. It also includes $25 million in funding for residential streets, totaling over $100 million for residential streets in the past three years.

Increased parks maintenance budget to build on the historic $80 million grant from Lilly Endowment for parks capital improvements, and funding for public safety cameras in 9 Indy Parks locations. It also features a $2 million in fiscal package for BNS to improve alleys, the first designated funding for alleys in recent memory. And it includes an anti-displacement pilot program in the Riverside neighborhood to limit the impact of rising assessed values, helping keep longtime neighbors on fixed incomes in their homes.

Funding to create a new disparity study conducted by the Office of Minority and Women Business Development, updating 2019’s disparity study and putting the office on track to update studies every five years. It also creates an Office of Equity, Belonging, & Inclusion to enhance City-County efforts to ensure the local government reflects the people it serves.

Mayor Joe Hogsett

Upon the City-County Council’s unanimous passing of the 2024 City-County operating budget, Jefferson Shreve released the following statement:
“I’m glad to see the increased funding for public safety, but no amount of money is going to make Joe Hogsett an effective mayor. His budgets pass every year, without better results.
We’ve had the budget for a fully staffed police force; yet we’re 300 officers short. 800 have left, deciding they don’t want to work for him.
This is not a fiscal issue, this is a leadership issue. Mayor Hogsett’s had eight years — it’s time for a change, and I look forward to leading our city under this budget.”
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Jefferson Shreve

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Indianapolis, IN

BLQ+ Pride Fest: A celebration of Indy's Black LGBTQ+ community

Published

5 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

BLQ+ Pride Fest: A celebration of Indy's Black LGBTQ+ community

INDIANAPOLIS — A celebration of Black LGBTQ+ pride was on full display on Monument Circle Saturday.

The BLQ+ Pride fest brought out hundreds of people as an opportunity to celebrate people of color who identify as LGBTQ+.

The celebration had vendors, queer health support organizations and entertainment.

WRTV

According to the Human Rights campaign, over 80 percent of black LGBTQ+ youth say they have experienced homophobia or transphobia in the black community.

Organizers hope the event serves as a reminder to queer people of color that they have a community in the city of Indianapolis.

“Black pride is important because black LGBTQ people need safe spaces to feel loved and celebrated in the State of Indiana,” President of Indiana Pride of Color Belinda Drake said.

The Human Rights campaign also says that racism is an issue in the LGBTQ+ community.

Nearly 75 percent of black queer youth say they have experienced racism in the queer community.

Indiana Pride of Color is working to improve the quality of life for Indiana LGBTQ+ BIPOC communities.

Learn more about the Indiana Pride of Color organization, here.

WATCH | Organizations work to ‘break the stigma’ amid Mental Health Awareness Month

Breaking the stigma of mental health during Mental Health Awareness Month

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Indianapolis, IN

BLQ+ Pride Summer Fest returns

Published

12 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a five-year hiatus, the BLQ+ Pride Summer Fest event was held on Monument Circle on Saturday.

The event featured several shopping, entertainment, and eating opportunities.

“They are doing testing, we have food vendors, we have alcohol for the adults, we have folks who are selling merchandise,” said Belinda Drake, president of Indiana Pride of Color. “We have the ice cone shop for the kiddos, too.”

The day is created to honor and celebrate Black, Queer joy in the city and state overall.

One of the vendors who came out to sell items and celebrate alongside the community is Nakeya Harris, the owner of Meraki Mobile Boutique. Her shop carries women’s clothing items, with a specific focus on statement items with bright colors. She also carries jewelry and additional staples.

“I enjoy people expressing themselves and being free, so I wanted to be a part of that,” Harris said.

Local LifeJourney Church was also in attendance at the event. They aim to extend a safe space for worship to anyone interested.

“Today we are trying to reach out to communities of color and just say we have a welcoming space where people can come and be themselves

Though it is the first event of its kind since 2019, the Summer Fest is set to return to Monument Circle next year, and for many years to come.

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Indianapolis, IN

Todd’s Take: Home Cooking? Indiana Needs To Clean Its Big Ten Tournament Plate In Indy

Published

20 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Todd’s Take: Home Cooking? Indiana Needs To Clean Its Big Ten Tournament Plate In Indy

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On Wednesday, white smoke finally hovered over Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., as the conference revealed its future plans for the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

If you’re a Big Ten-mad basketball fan who resides in Indiana, you’re happy. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will host both the men’s and women’s tournaments twice each between 2025 and 2028. The Fieldhouse will host both tournaments in 2025.

Spanning all 3 time zones across the Big Ten!
Here are the hosts for the 2025-2028 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments: https://t.co/lDiAEA5oVI#B1GMBBT l #B1GWBBT pic.twitter.com/clkRFmWP7O
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 31, 2024
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In theory, you’d think having the Big Ten Tournament right in the heart of Hoosier country would create a home-court advantage for the cream-and-crimson. You’d think that Fieldhouse moments would be part of the collective memories of candy-striped fans statewide.

But let’s partake in a short exercise. What is Indiana’s greatest Big Ten Tournament moment in the Circle City in men’s basketball? I’ll give you a moment to think about it.

That’s right, dig deep. Keep mining the recesses of your mind. Why do I hear crickets?

As I clear the cobwebs in my own head, in terms of good things that happened to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy, I can only think of the 2022 run when the Hoosiers saved their NCAA Tournament bacon with a 2-1 performance.

Included were two of the three games Indiana has won by five points or less in Big Ten Tournament games played in Indianapolis – a five-point victory over Michigan and a two-point thriller against top-seeded Illinois. (The other was a 2006 five-point victory over Wisconsin.)

Past that? The cupboard is bare. There are infamous moments that jump to mind, such as former Hoosier Luke Recker’s heart-shattering buzzer-beater for Iowa in a 2002 semifinal in the first Big Ten Tournament played in Indy. Soon-to-be-outgoing coach Archie Miller was lustily booed in the tournament’s lone appearance at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2021.

There is infamy that had nothing to do with Indiana, such as the bizarre 2020 Big Ten Tournament game against Nebraska, where it seemed the entire nation seemingly coalesced during that game to the grim reality that COVID-19 was about to alter all of our lives.

Only in Indiana’s checkered Big Ten Tournament history could the Hoosiers win and not advance.

Past that, Indiana has largely entered and exited anonymously in the Circle City. The Hoosiers’ all-time Big Ten Tournament record in Indy is 7-11. Indiana has beaten a grand total of one ranked foe (No. 16 Illinois, 2022) among those seven victories.

The Hoosiers have had six one-and-done appearances at the Fieldhouse. Even if you exclude the 2008-10 post-probation period when the Hoosiers were mired in losing, that still leaves three other instances where cream-and-crimson tails were firmly planted between legs in front of the home folks.

The women don’t escape scrutiny, either. Indiana’s women have been better than the men – Heather Cassady and Jill Chapman led the Hoosiers to their lone Big Ten Tournament championship at the Fieldhouse in 2002. Teri Moren coached the 2022 team to the championship game at the Fieldhouse. But apart from that? Not much considering the women’s tournament has been played in Indianapolis far more often than the men’s tournament.

Indiana’s women are 19-24 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and have 12 one-and-done appearances.

Indiana fans show their support on a late Indiana run, Thursday, March 10, 2022, during Big Ten tournament men’s action from Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana won 74-69. / Robert Scheer/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

None of this is for lack of enthusiasm at the gate. Every Indiana Big Ten Tournament game I’ve been to in Indianapolis has been a Hoosier Nation takeover. Indiana fans always show up, it’s what they do, but in Indy, it’s almost never reciprocated with on-court success.

So why does Indiana struggle in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy? Part of it is Indiana’s uneven seasons in general since the tournaments began in 1995 (women) and 1998 (men), but even good Hoosiers teams have stumbled in Indy.

The 2016 Big Ten regular season men’s champions are one example as they went one-and-out. Indiana’s 2021 Elite Eight women’s team didn’t win in Indy, either.

Where the men are concerned, perhaps part of it is historical indifference. Bob Knight was famously opposed to the tournament’s very existence and that attitude has possibly settled in among fans who recall his stance.

Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve heard many (any?) Indiana fans put an emphasis on the Big Ten Tournament, apart from seasons where the Hoosiers had to win to get a NCAA Tournament berth. The vibe is that this is a program that has bigger fish to fry, in particular, the elusive sixth banner.

Well, sometimes reality slaps you in the face with the truth that you have to walk before you can run. Indiana’s .395 winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament is only ahead of Northwestern’s among schools that have been in the conference since the inception of the tournament. Let that wash over you.

That dubious distinction alone should spur Indiana fans into giving this tournament a bit more emotional emphasis, but there’s something to be said for the enthusiasm a tournament run generates, too.

I was there for the Purdue men’s win in 2023 in Chicago as well as the Iowa women’s and Illinois men’s wins in 2024 in Minneapolis. The Big Ten Tournament championship didn’t define any of their seasons, but it undoubtedly added some spice.

For the 2024-2025 season, Indiana’s men’s and women’s teams will both be capable of making noise at the Fieldhouse. The in-arena support will be there. Home cooking for the Hoosiers will be served up piping hot.

It’s long past time for the Hoosiers to clean their Big Ten Tournament plate in their home state.

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