The Gary Common Council attempted to vote on several budget ordinances at its Tuesday evening meeting.
However, due to a state law, the body must wait until Oct. 6 to pass the items.
The Gary Common Council met Tuesday night, and Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, and Councilman Myles Tolliver, D-at large, were both absent.
Budgets for the Gary Redevelopment Commission, Gary Public Transportation Corporation and the Gary/Chicago International Airport were up for voting at the meeting.
The council had approved the redevelopment commission budget in a 6-1 vote before their attorney Rinzer Williams said they would have to rescind the vote and table the resolution. Council Vice President Darren Washington, D-At-large, was the lone vote against the commission’s budget.
The rescission and table motions were both passed 7-0, as well as motions to table both the public transportation and airport budgets.
Eric Cender, director with Cender Dalton Municipal Advisors, made council members aware of the state requirements Tuesday night. Cender was at the meeting to give an overview of the transportation budget.
“It’s my understanding that the budget for 2027 cannot be adopted yet due to state requirements that a public hearing was held prior to the adoption of the budget,” Cender said. “That public hearing has not taken place yet. It is scheduled, so far, for Oct. 6, and there needs to be 10 days for advertisement and notice prior to the public hearing, and that also has not been released yet.”
According to documents from the Indiana Office of the Public Access Counselor, all political subdivisions — which include counties, townships, cities, towns and other municipal corporations — have to hold public hearings before budgets are approved. They must also notify taxpayers of various aspects of the budgets, including its estimated budget, estimated maximum permissible levy, and current and proposed tax levies of each fund, among other items.
Council President Linda Barnes Caldwell, D-5th, told Cender and airport Executive Director Dan Vicari to hold off on presentations of their budgets until the public hearing. However, redevelopment Executive Director Christopher Harris still presented his budget Tuesday night.
The redevelopment commission’s proposed budget is identical to its 2026 budget, according to council documents, with $252,560. The commission’s proposed tax base has decreased going into 2027, with just under $69,000 expected to roll over, down from about $138,000 in 2026. However, the commission’s property tax revenues have increased from $175,885 in 2026 to $184,421 in 2027.
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Harris told the council that his salary for 2027 is projected to stay the same at $92,369.38.
Harris also gave an update on the redevelopment commission’s work from this year.
“This past year, in 2026, we’ve been very busy as the community could see,” he said. “The mayor’s been very prudent and pragmatic when it comes to our economic development approach.”
He highlighted various projects that are underway throughout the city, including an incoming $60 million FedEx facility that broke ground in October 2025 and the Lake County Convention Center, which the county commissioners voted in May 2025 to bring to Gary.
“We’re seeing more new construction within our neighborhoods,” Harris said. “We’ve been fostering and supporting that type of growth and development. We’re just very excited to be able to continue stewarding the mayor’s vision, understanding that we’re looking to grow.”