Mayor: South Bend ended 2024 with strong cash position but faces revenue risk if Senate Bill 1 passes

South Bend — Mayor James Mueller on Monday, Feb. 10, told the South Bend Common Council the city closed the 2024 calendar year in sound financial condition while flagging state and federal policy proposals that could sharply reduce local revenue.

Mueller said the city recorded about a $1.1 million surplus in the general-plus funds for 2024 and that cash on hand rose from about $419 million to roughly $510 million, a jump he attributed largely to recently issued bond proceeds and timing differences between when the city receives financing and when it spends those dollars.

The fiscal snapshot matters because those proceeds are tied to specific capital projects, the mayor said. "If you receive the funds in one calendar year ... but you don't spend it on the project till the next year or two years later, it'll look in the year that you received the funds like you have a surplus," Mueller said. He described deficits in certain special-revenue and capital-project accounts as expected results of grant timing and planned spending.

Why it matters: Mueller warned that Indiana Senate Bill 1, as introduced, would cut an estimated $11 million from South…