Hogsett's budget magic wins over Republicans again
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Mayor Joe Hogsett's $1.56 billion budget shows why he's so hard to beat in municipal elections.
Driving the news: Hogsett, a Democrat, secured votes from all five City-County Council Republicans in a unanimous budget vote Monday — just three weeks before Indianapolis voters will render a verdict on the mayor's re-election bid against Republican Jefferson Shreve.
Why it matters: The annual city budget is the clearest expression of a mayor's policies, and Republicans have consistently endorsed Hogsett's spending plans throughout his two terms.
Between the lines: Hogsett's not-so-secret budget sauce is giving Republicans what they want.
- This year, that means budgeting a record $323 million on police, including 3% cost-of-living raises for officers, 750 dashboard cameras for patrol cars, new ballistic gear and 300 new cruisers.
The intrigue: Hogsett's inclination toward funding Republican priorities weakens partisan attacks, including from Shreve, who voted for Hogsett's budget as a City-County Council member.
- "I'm glad to see the increased funding for public safety, but no amount of money is going to make Joe Hogsett an effective mayor. His budgets pass every year, without better results," Shreve said in a statement.
- "We've had the budget for a fully staffed police force; yet we're 300 officers short."
By the numbers: Hogsett has, as Shreve says, repeatedly missed his own staffing targets.
- Hogsett budgeted for 1,843 officers this year, yet has fallen more than 300 below that goal at times.
The big picture: Indianapolis' failure to hire and retain police tracks with most police departments across the nation.
- Between 2020 and 2021, about 80% of cities experienced a net loss in officers.
What they're saying: "I think we look at this collectively as a sound budget and we agree this money could get us to where we need to be, but it's at the hands of the mayor now to actually deliver what we've just approved," Brian Mowery, the council's Republican minority leader, tells Axios of why he and his fellow Republicans voted with Hogsett.
The bottom line: Shreve and council Republicans embrace Hogsett's vision, at least as it's articulated in his budget, but argue a new mayor could spend the money more effectively and inspire police to work and stay in Indianapolis.
- Shreve's closing argument to voters: Similar policies, better executed.
Market Street is a regular column about local politics and power. Send me tips: [email protected].