Administration and Finance Committee Meeting - August 11, 2026
Administration and Finance Committee Meeting - August 11, 2026
The Administration and Finance Committee met on August 11, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 260 of the City-County Building. The committee considered proposals and held budget hearings for the Office of the Mayor, the Office of Finance and Management (OFM), and the Office of Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion (OEBI). All items were approved by voice vote.
Consent Calendar
- Proposal No. 242, 2026 – Reappointment of Tanya Ndiaye to the City-County Audit Committee. Approved without discussion.
Budget Hearing: Office of the Mayor
- Presented by Chief Deputy Mayor Shea Joyce. The office oversees public safety, infrastructure, quality of life, and good governance. The budget includes a $326,000 increase in Character One (personnel) for 16 new FTEs, a 3% COLA, a 1% health insurance increase, and seventh-grade costs. Character Three decreased by $900,000 due to a $500,000 reduction in the India Chiefs program and a $400,000 reduction in Circle City Readers. The Mayor’s Action Center handled 89,000 reports from June 2025 to June 2026. The office highlighted structural changes, including moving neighborhood advocates and veteran services into its budget. Questions focused on education priorities, the winding down of Circle City Readers, and the role of the Office of Equity. Deputy Mayor Joyce noted that the program allowed school districts to take over. The committee discussed the impact of the recent wheel tax vote on infrastructure funding.
Proposal No. 276, 2025 – Levy Freeze Tax Rate Adjustment
- Presented by Controller Abby Hansen. This is the first step to lower the levy freeze tax rate to spend down supplemental fund balance. The rate paid by citizens remains at 2.02%, but the allocation changes. The goal is to reduce the fund balance over three years before the levy freeze expires in 2028. Councillor Wells asked about the future, and Hansen explained that units of government will be able to increase property taxes for the amount previously foregone. Councillor Neelson noted that circuit breaker losses could affect collections. Proposal No. 276 was approved by voice vote.
Budget Hearing: Office of Finance and Management
- Presented by Controller Abby Hansen and Deputy Controller Janay Rowe. OFM has 69 employees, a majority female, with a 38% internal promotion rate and average tenure of six years. Highlights include a 153% increase in 457b retirement enrollment, a 66% increase in vendor bid workshop attendance, and the launch of an online procurement portal. The budget is $13.6 million, with Character One increasing $1.2 million to fund 72 positions. Character Three changes include ending a grant accounting software contract and shifting $50,000 from drug-free to opioid funding. The team is working on facility assessments and a customer service center. Councillor Cahill inquired about defensive driving training improvements; Deputy Controller Brett Winiger explained the focus on reducing accidents. No public comments. The budget hearing concluded.
Proposal No. 243, 2026 – Investment Policy Renewal
- Presented by Deputy Controller Janay Rowe. The policy is renewed every four years with no changes. Permissible investments are limited to U.S. Treasury securities, government-backed money market accounts, and state-authorized local government investment pools. Prohibited investments include stocks, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies, and foreign investments. The primary objectives are safety, liquidity, and rate of return. Councillor Cahill asked about the auditor's practice of paying invoices immediately, which reduces liquidity; Rowe noted ongoing efforts to move to electronic payments. Proposal No. 243 was approved by voice vote.
Budget Hearing: Office of Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion
- Presented by Chief Diversity Officer Ventura. OEBI was established in 2023 and has five staff members. The office presented enterprise-wide demographic data showing a gender disparity (men outnumber women) and underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latinx and Asian employees in leadership and at higher pay levels. Community outreach includes the Birth Fund (raised $3.2 million, supporting 150 pregnant persons), the By Design initiative, and the Black Cultural Collective. The 2027 budget is $65,000 higher than last year, with Character Three increasing due to a corrected grant error and a $130,000 contract for program evaluation. Councillor Mowry questioned the necessity of the office, but Ventura defended it as a coordinating body. Councillor Wells supported the language access ordinance and broader inclusion. Councillor Boots asked about AI for language translation; Ventura cautioned about equity and job displacement. Councillor Cahill requested inclusion of veteran status and disability data. No public comments. The budget hearing concluded.
Key Outcomes
- Proposal No. 242 (reappointment) approved by voice vote without discussion.
- Proposal No. 276 (levy freeze adjustment) approved by voice vote. Final approval to be sought later.
- Proposal No. 243 (investment policy renewal) approved by voice vote.
- Office of the Mayor budget and OFM budget were presented and discussed with no formal vote; they will proceed to full council.
- OEBI budget was presented and discussed with no formal vote.
- Committee adjourned sine die.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chairman Mike Bill, District number four. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Brian Mallory, District 25. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We may have District 16, the Far East side. Thank you, Mr. Chair Nick Roberts for. Thank you, Chairman. ADL. With consent, I'd like to move the office of the mayor's work. All right. Chief? Deputy Chief. Do you have a bullet? So good evening. Thank you, Chairman, and members of the committee. Chief of Staff, Chief Deputy Mayor for the Search Office of the United States, Deputy Mayor Shea Joyce. The officer of the mayor, the Office of the Mayor is responsible for creating and implementing initiatives that address the mayor's core priorities. Public safety, infrastructure, quality of life, and good governance. We also will see the mayor's charter schools and the newly created Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. On the screen before you'll see organization of the mayor's office. In addition to the mayor's office team, each of the deputy mayors has a portfolio of departments and agencies they oversee within the city. Now to the budget breakdown, the office of the mayor is made up of six departments. Uh that you see before you overall, uh the budget increase for character one by 326,000. That's the 16 new FTUs transferred in from the other departments for 3% cost of living increase, the 1% health insurance increase, and the seventh grade costs for the mayor's office staff in 2027. Character 3 went down by a total of 900,000 between 500,000 reduction in the India Chiefs program and a 400,000 reduction in the circle center readers program. And we are currently working with employee Indy, the final alternative funding avenues for the Indian Chiefs program. And finally, with a slight uh increase in an ISA charge back, you'll see in the uh well. I don't know if that goes there. Disregard that. And then uh character five. Um we'll better explain that budget when we get down to the math breakdown in uh later in the presentation. For the mayor's office administration budget, uh these is where the deputy mayors and communications team and the mayor's support staff land in the budget. As you can see, this budget went down as it has every year of the mayor's tenure. Uh, character one funds uh 3% uh cost of living increase, 1% health insurance increase, and a 42,000 dollar increase for uh seven grade. The uh I'm sorry, the seventh grade is 121,000 increase. And we have chosen within the office to do some restructuring and consolidate uh positions, which has allowed us to find cost savings that you see on the screen. Character 3 decreased by 16,000. We just see an increase of uh by ISA of 29,000, but our professional services budget decreased by 45,000 in 2020 in the 2027 budget, and there's no change in character two or character four. For the Office of Education and Innovation, we shifted some funds from character one to character three to uh make some software updates, and this uh character one still funds nine FTEs. I said earlier, the change the change is a decrease for services readers and the achieves and an increase of $42,000 from the Department of Education grants, and as I mentioned, uh the software update and the first main character one was shifted to character three, no change in character two, four, or five. The mayor's action center was reminded for everyone the MAC is a service agency, meaning that it serves the city county enterprise and is funded largely through charge vaccines as a result of that. In character one, there is a 221,000 dollar increase. That is because of the bar collective bargaining agreement for the MAC reps, a COLA increase 3%, and then 1% increase in health insurance for 2027. In character three, we saw chargebacks go up from ISA, but they also saw $2,000 savings and energy energy savings. And in character five, there's no uh no change that we need to talk about there.
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