GREENSBURG, IN — The City of Greensburg City Council has officially passed the city’s 2027 budget, maintaining the administration’s focus on responsible fiscal stewardship while continuing crucial investments in public safety, essential infrastructure, and community quality-of-place initiatives.
The approved 2027 general fund budget totals $10,803,087, with total operational funds exceeding $15,000,000. Through this budget, the City continues its firm commitment to first responders, dedicating over 70% of the general fund directly to the Greensburg Police Department and Greensburg Fire Department.
Every year, our City Council, administration, and department heads work side-by-side to balance staffing, capital needs, and operational goals. While our core commitment to keeping Greensburg safe and growing has not wavered, the landscape under which we operate has fundamentally changed.
State-level legislative changes under Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 1 (2025) are beginning to take effect.
We are projected to collect less revenue annually, eventually culminating at $1.6 million less annually in 2029 and continuing forward. Facing these externally imposed revenue reductions alongside inflation and rising operational costs, our team was forced to make exceptionally tough choices this year to protect our community’s essential services.
Despite tight constraints in the general fund, outside of the general fund using capital accounts, we approved the remaining payments for two critical new fire apparatus arriving in 2027—including over $1,000,000 for our Aerial Truck and nearly $1,100,000 for our rescue engine—replacing aging equipment that our firefighters rely on daily. Additionally, we are fully upgrading the Police
Department’s communications network with modern, state-of-the-art radio systems that feature built- in multilingual interpretation, officer GPS safety tracking, and long-term maintenance coverage.
While our original goal was to rebuild the Fire Department back to 27 full-time firefighters, these state- mandated revenue cuts simply do not allow for that expansion. This year, the City Council decided not to rehire any of the positions covered by the Honda Indiana Auto Plant agreement, which was created over 18 years ago and expired in June. The cost of the services provided was not fully covered by Honda’s payment. The Council and Board of Works, knowing that the impacts of SEA 1 would be present in the 2027 and beyond budget cycle, froze hiring, those positions were not filled. The planning has ensured that no layoffs were needed. While the goal was to refill GFD to 27 full-time firefighters, the impacts to revenue did not allow for that. The 24 dedicated firefighters currently on staff will remain, and we will adapt to a slightly smaller force.
To avoid deeper cuts to positions in our police or fire departments, the Council will consider raising the trash tipping fee by $2 per month. This small adjustment directly offsets general fund subsidies to the sanitation fund—keeping more officers on our streets and firefighters in our stations.Our Street Department is awaiting delivery of a new boom truck for our brush and heavy-trash collection. By keeping this service in-house rather than privatizing, we provide high level of service to residents year-round. It is important to city operations that we are able to keep our skilled team available year-round for many areas of focus including but not limited to street repairs, leaf pickup, and snow removal.
When people use the phrase ‘do more with less,’ local governments like ours are already doing the absolute most with what we have. Over the last five years, Greensburg’s property tax rate dropped steadily from $1.594 per $100 of assessed value in 2020 down to $1.111 in 2025 (payable in 2026).
While state law changes mean local rates may need to adjust upward, Indiana’s constitutional property tax caps ensure homeowners will never pay more than 1% of their home’s value, shifting more of the local tax burden onto rental, commercial, agricultural, and industrial properties. Though the current state legislation focuses more forcing increases in local income taxes that working members of our community pay. Without countywide local income tax adoption, or significant state legislation changes, there will be many more years of hard conversations about the level of service that can be provided by our city teams.
Even while navigating stiff financial headwinds created at the statehouse, Greensburg’s local economy remains vibrant and strong. We continue to experience low unemployment, robust tourism,
steady commuter traffic, and landmark residential growth. These areas of expansion help broaden the pool of properties that help pay for the services that are already in place, without growth and expansion the rates have to grow faster, or services shrink at a more rapid rate.
In 2026 alone, we broke ground on new single-family homes in Liberty Lakes, moved forward on downtown construction at Ironwood Apartments, and initiated underground infrastructure for 100 rental units at Seneca Landing—bringing over 200 new housing units to our community. These projects expand our tax base and support the local services we depend on. Combined with strong schools, quality healthcare, and ongoing commercial interest, Greensburg’s future remains exceptionally bright.
To help keep the momentum that you would like to see, and the level of services that you expect, please consider reaching out to your State Representative, Jennifer Meltzer, and State Senator Jean Leising to express support for multiple services.
