Indianapolis officials are looking to state government for options that could help the city close a funding gap of up to $1 billion a year for roads and transportation infrastructure.
Called Thriving Buildings, the program’s initial phase includes voluntary participation by private building owners while mandating participation for some municipal buildings.
The initiative is a partnership between the Indianapolis Urban League, the National Urban League and the African American Coalition of Indianapolis, and is funded with a $100 million Lilly Endowment Inc. grant awarded in August 2020.
The city of Indianapolis faces a huge funding gap to improve and maintain its roads, bridges, sidewalks and other transportation infrastructure—an amount approaching the city’s $1.3 billion annual budget—according to a new Department of Public Works report.
Residents are taking a do-it-yourself approach to tweaking specific stretches of road by their schools, businesses and neighborhoods to better protect children and neighbors.
State lawmakers approved an election bill this week after rejecting an amendment targeting Marion County Democratic Party Chair Kate Sweeney Bell, which would’ve required her to choose between her role as chairwoman and elected position as county recorder.
“The report makes clear council leadership’s determination to create space for a wide variety of community voices to be heard at the very outset of the redistricting process,” the council said in written statement.
Common Cause Indiana announced Wednesday that it has formed a nine-member, “politically balanced” group called the Indianapolis Citizens Redistricting Commission, similar to a project it led last year aimed at Congressional and state redistricting.
Murtlow said the she changes she instituted at United Way have been hard. “We realized that we could not be everything to everyone, and so we really focused on helping the population in our seven-county area that is living in poverty or is one step away from poverty.”
The dilapidated Lakeside Pointe at Nora and Fox Club apartment complexes in Indianapolis could see major improvements soon, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Thursday.
Lakeside Pointe at Nora apartment complex—under threat of a city nuisance lawsuit—has a new owner. The former owner owed more than $225,000 for 600-plus housing code violations at the complex.
The panel plans to focus first on urban forests and parklands, then recycling and solid waste, then equitable health and infrastructure investments.
Nearly 70% of the total cost is set aside for infrastructure improvements, including sidewalks and stormwater drainage.
A Democrat-authored amendment aimed at ousting Marion County Democratic Party Chair Kate Sweeney Bell made it a step further this week when the Indiana House approved the elections bill it’s tacked onto. And the bill leaves the door open for state legislators to pursue her job.
IBE President and CEO Tanya Mckinzie said the initiative grew out of the organization’s pandemic work with local Black business owners and a survey of nearly 1,000 such businesses.
Five days after announcing a deal with Citizens Energy Group to restore water service to tenants at two south-side Indianapolis apartment complexes, officials said they’re planning to get the city’s money back, but a lack of communication with the properties’ owners could complicate matters.
Proposal 58 is a rare Republican-led initiative to gain traction in a legislative body with a 20-5 Democratic supermajority.
The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday tabled an amendment that would have conditioned the removal of some public transportation funding requirements on compliance with new lane minimums—which would’ve involved budget-busting redesign and land acquisition over several miles of the proposed 24-mile route.
Indianapolis has put more than $30 million into about 600 grants since 2009, when it launched what’s now called the Violent Crime Prevention Grants Program.
City officials say they’re focused on a “test case” nuisance lawsuit and funding a range of programs to tackle persistent challenges with habitability, affordability and legal aid for tenants.
