Evansville City Council takes up 2027 budget Monday as housing, EMS and data centers stay on the table

Hoosier Enquirer | Evansville | Friday, Sept. 25, 2026

Evansville’s City Council will hold the first public reading of the city’s proposed 2027 budget Monday night, opening two weeks of debate over roads, pay, a new ambulance service and a shortfall officials blame in part on state tax law.

Mayor Stephanie Terry’s draft spends $152.1 million, an 8.5 percent increase from 2026, with a $5.3 million gap she wants covered from cash reserves. The plan puts about $6 million into roads, $2.5 million into salary increases and $3.3 million into the fire-based EMS system that started July 1. Terry has said there are no new taxes and no new obligation bonds.

Property-tax revenue is projected at $62.3 million — about $400,000 more than this year, but more than $6 million less than the city says it would have collected before Senate Enrolled Act 1. A resident survey this spring ranked affordable housing, clean water and street and sidewalk maintenance as the top spending priorities.

Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, in Room 301 of the Civic Center. Final passage is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Housing and neighborhoods

Terry said more than 1,600 housing units are underway or in the pipeline toward a goal of 2,000 by the end of 2027. The city has announced a rehabilitation investment at Grandview Tower, a 170-unit senior building, and has kept running Block-by-Block neighborhood events and a new Adopt-a-Drain volunteer program. Applications are open for the 2026–27 Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council.

EMS and public safety

The Fire Department’s in-house EMS launched July 1. On Sept. 8 the mayor announced a partnership with Deaconess Health System to support that service. Evansville police this week received 200 new trauma kits. A $200,000 park upgrade was also among recent city announcements.

Data centers

The Area Plan Commission has recommended a 180-day moratorium on new data-center development inside city limits. That ordinance is before City Council. Vanderburgh County’s Data Center Study Committee meets next at 1 p.m. Sept. 29 and plans to hear from Evansville Water & Sewer Utility. Water use, electric demand and residential reliability have been the main public concerns. The committee has a Dec. 31 deadline and has scheduled a public-comment session for Dec. 8.

Elections and the calendar

The Vanderburgh County Election Board meets Monday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. Candidate lists and public questions for the November general election are posted on the city website. Early-voting sites and hours were released earlier this summer.

On Oct. 2, a statewide Indiana AI roadshow stops at Old National Events Plaza. Former Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and University of Southern Indiana President Steven Bridges are listed among the speakers.

Site-review meetings continue Mondays at 10 a.m. The next City Council dates after Monday are Oct. 5 (budget vote) and Oct. 26.

— This article is written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers.