Bartholomew County Council members have given initial approval to their spending plan for 2026.
Council members passed a $70.1 million budget on first reading, down from $71.8 million in 2025.
The budget includes a 4% increase in the levy and a 3% increase for the salary and wages of county employees, but there aren’t many big ticket items as Bartholomew County government and others around the state reckon with the impacts of Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1.
“We kept it really flat,” Auditor Pia O’Connor said. “They (council members) appreciated all the department heads for keeping their budgets really flat. It made their job much easier. And that’s important in the 2026 budget because there’s so much uncertainty going into 2027.”
SEA 1 is a sweeping local government finance reform package passed by the statehouse’s Republican super majority last legislative session and includes changes to assessed value and levy collections, the expansion of local income taxes (LIT) and provisions related to the enactment of a wheel tax.
Republicans touted SEA 1 as “property tax relief” and a “great win” for Hoosiers, while Democrats say it is “bait and switch” that will leave local governments with little option but to either raise income taxes or cut essential services to offset the loss in revenue.
County budget deliberations typically take about four days, but council members and department heads worked through it in under three days this time around.
One of the more-talked about aspects regarding SEA 1 are provisions included from a House bill related to establishing a legal framework for local government units to enact a wheel tax, which Bartholomew County does not have.
Although it’s optional, not enacting one would significantly impact the county’s access to crucial Community Crossings Matching Grant (CCMG) funding. The county has until Sept. 2026 to make a decision to be eligible for the highest-possible disbursement of CCMG funds in 2027.
The council in 2027 will also have to vote on which local option income tax rates they want and in what area.
The local option income tax changes through SEA 1 authorize new tax rates the council can enact to fund things like county revenue and emergency services. The new rates, if enacted, would be effective for 2028.
The county last month enlisted Reedy Financial Group (RFG) to provide an analysis to show how certain decision they may or may not make about a wheel tax and local option income tax rate changes impact their revenues going forward.
RFG will discuss some of their findings during a budget workshop meeting on Oct. 6, ahead on the second reading of the budget on Oct. 13.
“We’re going to get more information that will help us understand what the revenue impacts will be after Senate Bill 1,” according to O’Connor.
