City Council Meeting Summary - December 8, 2025
Indianapolis City Council Meeting - December 8, 2025
The City Council convened to approve the 2026 budgets for two Economic Improvement Districts (EIDs) and received a high-level update from the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) regarding improvements to the affordable housing pipeline. The meeting highlighted significant concerns among council members regarding the concentration of development in central areas versus the lack of investment in aging townships.
Consent Calendar
- Proposal 371: Council unanimously approved the 2026 budget for the Greater Virginia Avenue Corridor Economic Improvement District ($80,000). The motion was moved by Councilor Gibson and seconded, passing with all members voting in favor. The budget supports landscaping, a district manager, public art, and partial fountain maintenance in Fountain Square.
- Proposal 372: Council unanimously approved the 2026 budget for the Woodruff Place Economic Improvement District ($105,000). The motion was moved by Councilor Gibson and seconded, passing with all members voting in favor. This budget allocates funds primarily toward restoring an original historical fountain ($72,000), maintaining historic street lights, and tree maintenance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Advocacy Works Group: A group of 24 community leaders, led by Representative Robin Shackelfort, attended to introduce themselves as advocates learning to foster political change. They expressed gratitude to Chairwoman Lewis for the acknowledgment.
Discussion Items
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Economic Improvement District Budget Details:
- Greater Virginia Avenue Corridor: Presenter Mr. Taff explained the district comprises 100 commercial property owners paying approximately $15 per linear foot; residential properties are excluded. $12,500 is allocated for supplemental security patrolling peak weekends at music venues and bars to address inevitable safety situations.
- Woodruff Place: Presenter Hannah Saunders (President) noted this district serves residential properties only. She detailed the high cost and maintenance needs of historic street lights, which require sandblasting, repainting, and LED upgrades, though AES covers electrical costs.
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DMD Housing Pipeline & Development Barriers:
- Director V (DMD): Presented an overview of process improvements to the housing pipeline, focusing on the "Payment in Lieu of Taxes" (PILOT) tool. The department aims to increase predictability, reduce uncertainty, and align intake processes with state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) applications, planning to submit a consolidated list of affordable housing developments for approval in Spring 2026.
- Councilor Gibson: Expressed full support for the department's efforts in affordable housing. Asked for specific advice on vetting developer capital stacks, noting that development often stalls due to a lack of available capital. Director V responded that they vet sources and uses, review proformas, and verify site control and permitting status.
- Councilor Evans: Expressed skepticism and concern that the current housing pipeline does not specifically target aging townships (citing Wayne Township's large population). Stated that development is disproportionately concentrated in the urban core and that current tools are insufficient to incentivize investment in dying neighborhoods. Suggested lobbying the State House for longer-duration tax abatements (15-20 years) and streamlining the approval process similar to Pittsburgh.
- Councilor Barth: Agreed with Councilor Evans, raising concerns that while investment exists in Brotherville, broader community economic development is lacking. Emphasized the need for a city-wide, community-driven economic development perspective.
- Councilor Delaney: Requested an explanation for the lack of development in townships compared to Center Township. Director V responded that downtown is simply denser, leading to more visible development, but acknowledged market condition barriers in other areas.
- Councilor Evans (Follow-up): Reiterated that the explanation regarding density was vague and inadequate. Urged the DMD to proactively investigate specific market barriers in target communities (e.g., West Washington Street, Chapel Hill) in January/February and to consider specific incentives.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: 2026 budget for Greater Virginia Avenue Corridor EID ($80,000).
- Approved: 2026 budget for Woodruff Place EID ($105,000).
- Directives: Councilor Evans directed the DMD to identify specific barriers to development in aging townships before the committee meets again in January or February 2026.
- Next Steps: DMD to conduct one-on-one meetings with council members starting in January to discuss the housing pipeline and LIHTC alignment in depth. DMD to present a consolidated list of approved affordable housing developments in Spring 2026.
- Future Consideration: The council discussed the potential need to lobby the State House for enhanced tax abatement tools (15 or 20 years) to incentivize development in non-core areas.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Madam Leader. My name is Brian Mowray, District 25. Thank you, Madam Chair, Nick Roberts, District 4. Thank you, Madam Leader. Kristen Jones, District 18. Thank you, Madam Leader. Brianne Delaney, District 2. Thank you, Madam Leader, Ron Gibson, District 8. Thank you, Madam Leader, John Barth, representing District 7. Thank you, Madam Leader. Councilor Jarrett Evans, representing District 17. Thank you, Madam Leader Lewy Robinson, District 1. Yeah, my name is Maggie Lewis, District 5. The first item on our agenda is proposal number 371, approves a 2026 budget of the Greater Virginia Avenue Corridor Economic Improvement District. Who is presenting on that? Sorry, I neglected to sign my name up here. Should I write it down or am I okay? Great. Good evening. It's quite a mouthful. We, as you may be familiar, we're one of two and maybe three if you count in the same improvement districts in the city, along with our kind of sister district, Woodruff and downtown. And we are a board of uh local property owners that basically uses that money to improve the desirability for retail and kind of commercial success in the corridor. Um so we have a pretty straightforward annual budget that we're presenting this year. It's um basically building on the successes of prior years, not making a lot of changes. It's um a landscaping contract to keep things weeds in control and kind of um beautify some planters and that sort of thing. It's um a district manager that we help contribute to their annual salary to kind of be the glue of the corridor uh and build relationships with uh retail tenants and plan events and that sort of thing. That's uh Jeff Nordike. Um then uh we contribute to keeping the fountains on. If you've ever owned a fountain, it's an incredibly expensive and it gets more expensive every year. Um so I'd encourage as a city to us to have fewer fountains for now. Uh but as Fountain Square, it's extremely important to us. So we're very happy to be uh a partial contributor to keeping those on. Um so that's the the general highlights of uh what we're doing. Uh we try to do some public art here and there and um work with the community. Uh and uh but it's it's eighty thousand dollars, it's a fixed amount, so every time inflation goes up, it's worth slightly less. Um things to improve maybe on the future uh resets for the districts, but um we're glad to have that funding to make our area better. Thank you so much. Questions from counselors, leader Maori. Sure. Thank you, Madam Leader. Uh just a quick question. So Woodruff Place has this Excel sheet here for us that kind of gives us an idea of breakdown of expenses and how the how where the money's going. Obviously, 80,000 is not a lot to spread out all over the place. So I didn't know if you guys had something like this as well that you could share. And then uh just I just I'm I'm interested to see how how you make the dollar stretch so far because the I mean it's obviously a challenge for you, but um just I think it's just nice to see that this is what you're putting it towards. Yeah, absolutely. Um there I don't know which document you may have in your packet, but we do have a budget document with a brief on the budget side leader. Um it is quite abbreviated. Yep. Um, but I'd be more than happy to provide more detail if uh if you would like that.
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