About

A new era is beginning for Indianapolis’ animal shelter.

Why it matters: The city’s overcrowded shelter will be retired this week as Indianapolis Animal Care Services — and the hundreds of pets in its care — moves into a brand new state-of-the-art facility.

The big picture: The new space is more than double the size of the 24,000-square-foot shelter on Harding Street, which is in a near-constant struggle with overcrowding.

• Years in the making, the more than $30 million project was funded in part by a $20 million bond approved by the city and a $7 million capital campaign from the Friends of Indy Animals.

What they’re saying: The shelter was built “very intentionally” with the well-being of animals in mind, said IACS director Amanda Dehoney-Hinkle.

• “We’re excited to see how their quality of life improves in this facility,” she said.

Zoom in: In the lobby, large paw-shaped lights hang over a bright, open space with a dedicated spot for adopters to take family photos, a retail space and large windows looking out on the city’s newest dog park.

• There’s a walking trail around the property, which includes a barn, large pasture and pond for the more unusual animals that sometimes come to the shelter — pigs, goats, peacocks, etc.
• Each dog kennel includes two spaces, so dogs don’t have to potty in the same area where they sleep. In many of those kennels, the second space is outside, giving the dogs access to fresh air and sunshine.
• Cats, too, have outdoor access with new “catios” connected to the free-roaming rooms, and individual enclosures have separate spaces for litter boxes.

Plus: There’s a large hospital-grade medical suite with four surgical tables and a new x-ray machine — a major upgrade over the old shelter’s medical space, which was akin to “a closet” — that Dehoney-Hinkle hopes will attract a full-time veterinarian to the staff.

• It includes a grooming suite and integrated cleaning tools, giving employees and volunteers more time to spend with the animals.

What’s next: The new shelter, at 5001 E. Raymond St., opens to the public May 11.

The City-County Council voted 17-8 on Monday, Oct. 6, to adopt Mayor Joe Hogsett’s $1.7 billion budget proposal.

Two Democrats, Jesse Brown and Crista Carlino, joined the six Republicans on council to vote against the budget.

The spending plan doesn’t increase taxes, but some departments were forced to scale back their spending. Others, like the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, increased what they charged for services.

Here are the winners and losers in the 2026 budget.

Winner: Public safety

While most departments were forced to scale back their spending by 4%, the police, fire and sheriff’s departments of Indianapolis were allowed to increase their spending by as much as 2%.

Spending for those agencies make up about 40% of the city’s budget.

As was the case last year, the 2026 budget for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department includes funding for 1,743 police officers, despite there being only about 1,460 officers on staff.

Sheriff Kerry Forestal had his agency’s budget approved, despite some Democrats on the council threatening to vote it down.

The sheriff, a Democrat in his third term, has faced criticism for partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold detainees in the local jail. The federal government pays $75 per day for each detainee.

Winner: Eviction diversion program

The Tenant Advocacy Project, which provides free legal assistance to people facing eviction, will get $1.5 million next year.

When Hogsett’s budget was introduced, the program was only set to receive $750,000. Andrew Merkley, director of the Office of Public Health and Safety, said that was about half of what the program needed.

Then, a week before the full budget was approved, a council committee added an additional $750,000 as part of a larger spending package.

The program started in 2021 and used to be funded by a combination of grants and federal pandemic relief funds. This is the first time it’s received money directly from the city.

Winner: Streets to Home

A yearslong initiative to end unsheltered and chronic homelessness received $10.2 million in funding.

Streets to Home Indy launched this summer and is led by the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention. The program recently led to housing for 18 people living at the Leonard Street encampment in Fountain Square.

Winner: Circle City Readers

Circle City Readers — a city-run program partnering with 10 Indianapolis schools — was launched in 2023 using federal pandemic dollars.

With that support coming to an end, the Hogsett administration committed to providing $400,000 of city funds to continue the program through the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Winner: Arts funding

Indy Arts Council will receive $1.3 million next year.

It’s the same amount the organization received last year, which was used to award more than 100 grants to arts organizations and individual artists.

Indy Arts Council President Judith Thomas said at an Oct. 2 meeting that she is grateful for the allocation given the cuts to arts funding happening at the state and federal level.

In addition to city funding, Indy Arts Council is looking to secure $1 million again from the Capital Improvement Board and Bond Bank, which increased their total budget to more than $2 million in 2025.

Currently, the council has not finalized any new agreements, but Thomas said they are in conversation with leaders at the city’s municipal corporations.

Loser: Most city departments

Local governments across Indiana had to make difficult choices this year.

That’s because state lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year that provides property tax relief to homeowners at the expense of funding for government services.

As a result of that legislation, the city anticipates losing $10 million in property tax revenue next year, with that number expected to increase to nearly $20 million in 2027 and about $30 million in 2028, according to City Controller Abby Hanson.

It’s why the Hogsett administration asked most departments to trim their budgets by 4%.

“It has not been publicly stated enough about what we were under with this budget,” said Councilor Jared Evans, a westside Democrat, during the Oct. 6 council meeting. “We knew that it was going to basically be garbage.”

Loser: Schools and libraries

For more than a decade, state lawmakers gave $38 million each year to the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County. The municipal corporation used the money to cover the cost of medical care for uninsured and low-income patients at Eskenazi Health.

Under Gov. Mike Braun, that support was cut.

To make up for it, HHC is maximizing the amount of property taxes it can collect from Marion County residents. That will lead to a projected $16 million loss in revenue for other taxing bodies, including Indianapolis schools and libraries.

Loser: Permit seekers

It’s about to get more expensive to build a home in Indianapolis.

That’s because the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services is raising the cost of licensing and permitting fees.

For example, the cost of getting a permit to build a 2,500-square-foot home will increase from $434 to $1,050.

Most zoning violations will also carry a costlier price tag. Previously, most zoning violations carried a flat fee of $50. Now, depending on the severity of the violation, fines can run up to $325.

The increases are necessary because the cost for the department to provide enforcement and permitting is greater than the revenue it brings in, according to Hanson, who said the new rates are based on the cost of similar services in neighboring cities and counties.

Loser: Urban forest advocates

A group called Forests for Indy had been asking councilors to find $3 million in the budget for urban forest preservation.

Despite their efforts, their request was denied.

A Hogsett spokesperson previously told Mirror Indy that the capital plan for the Department of Public Works allocates $4 million for urban forest and land conservation over the next four years.

Mixed bag: Immigrant legal services

The Office of Public Health and Safety initially proposed cutting $100,000 from a legal fund for immigrants. The money supports legal organizations helping people with naturalization applications, asylum claims and deportation cases.

Advocates who protested the cut said the fund was more important now than ever — especially as the Trump administration continues to work with the Marion County Jail and opens new immigration detention centers across Indiana.

The cut was reversed during a Sept. 24 committee meeting. The budget was restored to 2025 levels.

But some councilors and advocates said funding should be increased.

“This is nothing compared to the need that exists,” said Karla Lopez-Owens, the president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus.

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Construction crews are ahead of schedule on downtown’s Indiana Convention Center expansion, the state’s first Signia by Hilton hotel and another Georgia Street remix.

Why it matters: Even before completion, city leaders say, the development has helped the region’s surging hospitality and tourism industry secure new events while providing momentum to a post-pandemic initiative aimed at strengthening Indianapolis’ urban core.

The latest: The elevator shaft had been completed past the 25th floor of the 38-story Signia by Hilton, and CIB executive director Andy Mallon tells Axios the glass panels wrapping what will become Indy’s tallest hotel should reach the 18th floor this week.

• Meanwhile, crews have started work on the second floor of the ICC expansion, crafting the space that will become the new Grand Ballroom.
• The plan to transform the west block of Georgia Street into a park-like setting and permanently close it to vehicular traffic from Illinois to Capitol is making progress and should be open in time for the NCAA Men’s Final Four in April 2026.

What they’re saying: “It’s almost $1.5 billion in investment in new projects just in that three blocks of Georgia Street alone,” Mallon said. “It’ll add 800 rooms of inventory to downtown, which is absolutely necessary.”

• Mallon added the extra space will allow Indianapolis to host what he calls two “citywides,” as in citywide conventions or events that sell out simultaneously downtown.

State of play: Mallon said with the support of agreeable weather, crews are firmly en route to an anticipated completion date of late 2026 for the exterior hotel and convention center work.

• “The last floor of concrete will be poured probably in September, roof on in September or October. … And then dried in, we’ll have everything sort of weathertight hopefully around Christmas,” he said.

Yes, but: The price tag on the roughly $500 million Signia has gone up.

• “The construction market has never been hotter in the state of Indiana,” Mallon said.
• All the concurrent work in the region, including projects that share contractors and construction materials, means cost increases for those parts and labor.
• As a result, the CIB has invested an additional $70 million into the project to ensure it stays on track.

Reality check: The Hogsett administration took over the funding of the hotel in May 2023 when the original developer, Kite Realty, was unable to secure private financing.

• Mallon said most of the convention expansion is paid for through tax increment financing funds, while the cost of the hotel itself is funded through hotel revenue bonds.

Zoom in: The project also furthers the downtown resiliency strategy launched by Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration in 2022.

• The idea was to build a sturdier downtown on the other side of the pandemic through a combination of housing, recreational public space, economic development and connected infrastructure investments.

Zoom out: Department of Metropolitan Development director Megan Vukusich said this development — along with projects like the Elanco World Animal Health HQ and the Cole Motor Campus — represents the heart of that effort.

• “It’s really exciting to be now in 2025 and seeing the results of those efforts that began a few years ago. The Signia is a really good physical representation of the progress that’s being made.”

Go deeper: Convention Center expansion attracts attention — and cash

• Indianapolis is a hot market for hotel projects