The Columbus City Council has taken a step toward approving a proposed $109 million budget for 2024.
On Tuesday, the council voted 6-0 to pass a proposed budget ordinance on first reading. The council is expected to hold a final vote on the budget during its Oct. 17 meeting.
The proposed $109 million budget for 2024 represents an increase from this year’s spending plan, which totaled $88.87 million.
Some of the reasons for the higher budget next year include increase in salaries, benefits and insurance, as well as increases in the aviation fund and the Federal Aviation Administration grant fund projects at Columbus Municipal Airport, city officials said previously.
The council also approved on Tuesday salary increases for city employees in an effort to improve recruitment and retention, including a roughly 16% increase for police and a 13.9% increase for firefighters.
The proposed budget would allot about $12 million for capital and include a section for funds from the American Rescue Plan, or ARP.
The city received about $8.5 million through the federal plan in 2022 and $8.6 million in 2023 but hasn’t spent all the money. City officials said they estimate there will be about $2.6 million left at the end of the year.
The ARP budget would allocate $250,000 to help pay for low-income families to connect to high-speed internet.
Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp. has agreed to create a fiber network that spans Columbus, Bartholomew County, Bloomington and Shelbyville. Hoosier Fiber Networks is the fiber network utility provider for this system, and GigabitNow is the initial internet service provider.
As part of the agreement, city officials committed to using some of Columbus’ ARP funds to help cover the costs of connection for low-income residents.
The other expense in the ARP fund is $250,000 for security cameras and related equipment for downtown Columbus.
Passed by Congress in 2021, the ARP is a $1.9 trillion relief package that sought to help the country climb out of the coronavirus crisis.
The congressional delegation, all Republicans, representing Columbus — Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, and Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun — voted against the plan.
Another notable piece of the 2024 budget is a section covering the fieldhouse at NexusPark that includes $500,000 in start-up cash because the city is “not going to have all the revenue that’s going to need to support this fund right up front,” Parks Associate Director of Business Services Pam Harrell said previously.
That money could come from Economic Development Income Tax, Harrell said.
Harrell said the city worked with Legacy Sports Group on the pro forma for this budget, and the firm predicted that the fieldhouse would make $185,000 in 2024. After accounting for changes to insurance and personal services, the city is now expecting to turn a profit of $153,000. However, this will not happen right away, hence the need for the transfer, she said.
Per the proposed budget for the fieldhouse, the city’s revenue assumptions add up to $1.86 million, which includes the $500,000 transfer. The fund’s expenses are budgeted at about $1.2 million.
Harrell said that the fieldhouse fund and the parks and recreation general fund will split the cost of certain employee positions.
