Administration and Finance Committee Meeting - August 18, 2026
Administration and Finance Committee Meeting - August 18, 2026
The Administration and Finance Committee of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council met on August 18, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 221 of the City-County Building. The committee considered two proposals and held budget hearings for four county agencies: the Marion County Election Board, Voter Registration, the Building Authority, and the Cooperative Extension Service.
Proposal 275 - Additional Appropriation of $19 Million
- The committee approved an additional appropriation of $19,000,000 for multiple city departments and programs. Key funding items included: $400,000 for the Circle City Readers program, $150,000 for data center zoning review, $150,000 for Public Defender document destruction (saving $20,000 annually in storage costs), $4,000,000 as a down payment on election equipment (total cost $14.5 million), $2,200,000 to expand bed capacity at the Assessment Intervention Center for a weather-activated shelter, $650,000 for security cameras at 23 parks, $1,450,000 for hardcourt renovations at 14 parks and upgrades to the Rhodius Playground (the city's only ADA-accessible playground), and $10,000,000 toward the $50 million road funding match. Discussion included questions about election equipment financing, pickleball court lines, and the scope of camera installations. The motion passed unanimously.
Proposal 242 - Reappointment to City-County Audit Committee
- The committee reappointed Tanya Ndiaye to the City-County Audit Committee. Ms. Ndiaye, an accountant with 17 years of business experience, stated her passion for numbers and community involvement. She has attended 19 of 20 committee meetings. The reappointment was approved unanimously.
Budget Hearing: Marion County Election Board
- Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell and Director Patrick Becker presented. The board, staffed by 14 full-time employees, administers elections for approximately 630,000 registered voters. The board is acquiring new voting equipment at a cost of $14.5 million, with the $4 million down payment included in Proposal 275. The remaining $10.5 million will be addressed in future budgets through payments or financing. The board discussed poll worker recruitment and pay, and requested information on vote centers affected by recent flooding.
Budget Hearing: Marion County Board of Voter Registration
- Co-Directors Alex Norenda (Democratic) and Cindy Mowry (Republican) presented a proposed 2027 budget of $1.3 million, a $36,000 increase from 2026 primarily due to cost-of-living adjustments and benefits. The office has 12 full-time staff and serves 670,000 registered voters. Temporary employees are hired for signature verification on ballot measures; the cost for the recent Greg Ballard petition was approximately $27,000-$30,000. The office partners with numerous community organizations for voter registration outreach.
Budget Hearing: Marion County Building Authority
- General Manager Mark Peterson presented a $38.3 million budget for fiscal year 2027-2028, a 4.5% increase. The Building Authority manages 25 properties, including three new IMPD facilities (Canine Barn, Horse Barn, and Park Ranger facility). Key initiatives include a new AI-powered maintenance management system (Facilitate 360) and capital repairs focused on the Public Safety Training Academy. Employee turnover has dropped by 6%. Discussion covered canal maintenance ($638,589), the possibility of managing additional city properties, and the authority's non-union workforce.
Budget Hearing: Marion County Cooperative Extension Service
- Regional Operations Leader Laura Dodds and Director of Operations Rita Blythe presented a proposed 2027 budget of $960,000, a decrease of $6,000 from 2026. The Extension serves over 25,000 residents annually through programs in agriculture, health, community development, and 4-H youth development. A new regional model includes six counties while retaining seven educators in Marion County. The VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program, now in its second year, was highlighted as a valuable resource. Councillor Nielsen requested detailed statistics on VITA for next year's hearing.
Key Outcomes
- Proposal 275 ($19 million appropriation) passed unanimously.
- Proposal 242 (reappointment of Tanya Ndiaye) passed unanimously.
- Budget hearings were held for four agencies; no formal votes were taken on the budgets at this meeting. The committee will consider the budgets as part of the overall 2027 budget adoption process.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the admin and finance committee meeting. Start the meeting to my left with introductions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mike Dilk, District 24. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Derek Cahill, District 23. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Brian Mowray, District 25. To my right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Renew Allen, District 15, the Far East Side. Thank you, Mr. Chairman Dan Boots, District 3, Washington, Lawrence Township. Good evening, Chairman Miss Gary. Krista Wells, District 11, far west side. Thank you, Chairman Andy Nielsen, District 14, East Side. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Maggie Lewis. Frank Miscarry, District 19. With consent, would like to move proposal 242 after 275. She's running like it's consent. All right. Ms. Hanson, you're up. 275 approves an additional appropriation of 19 million dollars in the 2026 budget of the office of the mayor, Office of Finance, Parks, Recreation, Department of Metropolitan. Department of Public Works, Public Defenders, Election Board, and various other city candidates. You have the floor. Good evening. Nice to see you all again. We went a few whole days without seeing each other. I'm really gonna dive right into this. Um this fiscal package is the traditional fiscal package that we do alongside the budget. So I'm gonna just talk through the programs and the projects that we are funding with this. First being 400,000 for the spring semester of the Circle City Readers program. This program was not included in the 2027 budget, and while we have seen successes, we ultimately determined that it wasn't part of our core mission. The appropriation allows the program to continue through the school semester, the school year, and we are happy to turn the program over or turn our program playbook over to schools or nonprofit organizations to continue on their own. This was one of our last decisions of the 2027 budget. So we haven't had a chance to actively start those conversations, but uh about handing it off, but we intend to. Next is 150,000 for the Department of Metropolitan Development in the amended proposal for data center zoning, um, which was amended to become a moratorium. It called for a committee of experts and community members to review a number of provisions. I started to write it all in here, but it was a lot, and so you you know what it did. Um, the fiscal allocates money for DMD to take on that task. Next is 150,000 for the public defenders agency through the 2027 budget process. They made a rec a request to OFM that they needed funds for document destruction because they had reached the end of their retention schedules. The files are stored off-site, and the company had changed their cost structure, so all of this was increasing our cost of storing documents we didn't need to have. Um, so this will allow them to destroy 27% of their files and reduce our annual storage costs by about $20,000. Next is the election board, which is four million dollars for election equipment upgrades.
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