Evansville City Council held the first day of budget hearings for the proposed 2027 budget on September 15, 2026, beginning shortly after 3:06 PM. Mayor Terry presented a $152.1 million general fund budget (an 8.5% increase) with a $5.3 million gap to be covered by cash reserves, leaving over $24.4 million in reserves. Department heads and utility directors presented their respective budgets, with emphasis on public safety, infrastructure, parks, stormwater, and workforce investments. No votes were taken; the first reading and final passage are scheduled for September 28 and October 5, 2026, respectively.
Okay. I want to thank everybody for their patience. There was a meeting in here just before this meeting, and it kind of caused us to run a little bit late, but welcome to the City of Evansville 2027 Budget Finance Committee and Budget Review and Presentation. And we will start with an overview from Mayor Terry. Thank you. Councilor Green and good afternoon, President Trockman, who is joining us virtually and members of council. Before we get started, I want to take a moment to highlight some of the work underway across our city. We've continued investing in our neighborhoods, reaching 125th blighted demolition as we work toward our goal of 150 structures. We've made progress on investing in neighborhoods with housing more than 600, 16, 100 units underway or in the pipeline, putting us at 84 percent of our goal of 2,000 by the end of 2027. We're investing more than 13.3 million in our parks and recreational facilities this year, including long overdue renovations at the CK Newsom Community Center. And we've continued investing in our roads and critical infrastructure, paving another 6.8 miles of streets. From an economic development standpoint, we've worked with EREP to retain 172 jobs at Escalade Sports and secured a $10 million reinvestment in its Evansville operations. This summer we successfully launched the city's new EMS division, and thanks to the leadership of EFD, a partnership with Deaconess Health System has resulted in a multimillion dollar investment to support this important work. And later this year, we'll launch a new city website and C Clicks FIC app, making it easier for residents to find information, to report issues, and interact with city government. There is more work to do, but these investments are moving important priorities forward. Counselors, we share a responsibility to serve the people of Evansville. So thank you for your work and your partnership. One of the most important responsibilities each year is developing a city budget that reflects the needs and priorities of our community. As mayor, it's my responsibility to work with our departments to develop and present a proposed budget. And as council, you have the responsibility to review the proposals, to ask the hard questions, and to make changes in partnership with us where appropriate and ultimately approve the city's budget. But behind the scenes, a lot of people are involved in this process. So I want to acknowledge our department heads, many that are behind us and their teams. These are thankless jobs. But my people keep showing up. Our departments have spent months reviewing their needs, making difficult choices, and identifying ways to do more with limited resources. I want to give a special thank you to Controller Robert Gunter and the entire controller's office for the countless hours that have gone into preparing this budget package you have before you today. Much like this year, we hope to ensure to get another distinguished budget presentation award from the Government Finance Officers Association. I know he'll hate that I'm saying this, but we have a true gem in Robert, and I appreciate his leadership throughout this process. You can so with that, let's turn to the 2027 budget. If I had to describe this budget in one sentence, it would be we're protecting what Evansville's uh what makes us strong and investing boldly in what comes next. This proposed 152.1 million dollar budget is disciplined and focused on the foundation of our city. Our roads, stormwater infrastructure, parks, public safety, housing, and code enforcement. These may not always be the investments that generate the biggest headlines, but they are among the most important. And they're what our residents have told us matter. Through our new community budget forum and res and resident survey we put in place, some of the top concerns we heard were there was a need for more code enforcement. The condition of our roads and sidewalks are in poor condition. Clean water, affordable housing, and do something about Center Point. We hear the same things in our traveling city hall meetings and the calls and emails and conversations we have with residents every day. And we also know that residents expect local government to be responsible with their tax dollars. This proposed budget reflects those priorities. Our first and most important task is delivering on those priorities at a time when cities across Indiana are facing a very difficult financial reality. And Evansville is no exception. We continue to have serious concerns about the impact of changes to Indiana's property tax system. Property taxes are one of the primary revenue sources supporting city services, accounting for approximately 43.8 percent of our general fund revenue. While our property tax revenue increased slightly this year, property tax caps continue to limit what the city actually collects. Based on our analysis by REDI Financial, we estimate the city would have received approximately $4.1 million in property tax revenue in this year. The impact is projected to grow to approximately $6 million next year. We recognize that Senate Enrolled Act 1 provides property tax relief for residents. People are feeling the pressures of rising costs everywhere, and the relief is important. But those changes also reduce revenue available to cities, towns, counties, and schools, with additional impacts expected to change as the business personal property taxes are phased in.