Finance committee reviews ordinance to amend special‑revenue budgets, add behavioral‑health position

Gary Common Council’s finance committee on Tuesday, Feb. 25 reviewed CPO 20 25 0 8, an ordinance to amend City of Gary ordinance 9749 and appropriate additional salaries and operating budgets across several special‑revenue funds, including tourism, fleet self‑insurance, baseball maintenance, Love Your Block and Lake Michigan Coastal funds.

M. Salida Green, city controller, presented the ordinance and walked members through requested appropriations and recent deposits. The controller told the committee the package includes a proposed $300,000 increase for baseball maintenance to cover invoices spanning February 2024 and 2025 related to the RailCats Stadium contract; the stadium contract historically caps maintenance payments at $150,000 per year. Green also described a request to appropriate roughly $900,000 for the fleet self‑insurance fund (line items discussed included an itemized request of $150,000 for repair parts and large allocations for property insurance and equipment repairs), and a $70,000 budget for the Love Your Block program that includes a $50,000 project‑director line.

The environmental affairs request totals $68,287 (itemized in the presentation as $50,287 for other materials, $13,000 for professional services and $5,000 for printing). The tourism appropriation from the South Shore Visitors Bureau was listed at $50,000 for largely regional community events; the economic development account shows a $31,000 request for current charges to cover city events such as Touch a Truck, Juneteenth and a fully sponsored Women’s Recognition Event. For RailCats‑related tourism activity, the controller outlined requested appropriations of $7,000 for other materials, $2,000 for printing and $23,000 for current charges to support events including the city’s back‑to‑school program.

On the opioid/behavioral health item, a department representative asked to add a $70,000 behavioral‑health position to the ordinance. The presenter said the position would oversee both opioid‑related work and behavioral‑health functions tied to a health‑department mental‑health hub and would manage referrals and follow‑up services (therapy, counseling, family services) rather than operate solely out of the city’s warming/cooling center. The committee was also told the city will rescind a previously included women’s shelter position; the controller stated the shelter position will not be requested in this ordinance.

During discussion, committee members pressed for additional detail and follow‑up information. A council member asked how the city’s self‑insurance costs compared to private insurance premiums; the controller said the quoted premium for private vehicle insurance was “about a million dollars” for one year, and noted the city has funded the self‑insurance account incrementally in recent years (examples given: $400,000 in 2023 and $500,000 in 2024). The controller said so far this year the fund has paid about $125,000 to a law firm in connection with an accident and about $12,546 in other 2025 expenses; she said the fund balance on the revenue sheet showed a $500,000 deposit plus a rollover balance of $777,000, which would project to about $1,277,000 by year end.

Council members requested follow‑up on two items: (1) whether any of the RailCats or visitor‑bureau funding that comes to the city (including a previously noted $16,000 that was directed to the Genesis Center in past years) returns to youth baseball or local field maintenance, and (2) whether council members can play a role in selecting or advising which community events receive tourism‑fund support. The controller said the visitors bureau allocation has decreased and that some past categories of support (public‑safety overtime, economic development and tourism) have shifted; she said she would follow up on councils’ engagement in event selection and provide additional information on how outside funding is allocated.

The presentation concluded with the controller asking whether members had further questions; committee members indicated they would consider the ordinance and requested staff follow up on the specific items above. The controller requested that, if the committee approves including the opioid/behavioral‑health position in the ordinance, staff revise the ordinance and submit it for third and final reading.

No formal vote on CPO 20 25 0 8 or any line item was recorded in the finance‑committee transcript provided. Committee members and department representatives agreed to follow up on requested clarifications before final council action.