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Health and Hospital Corporation board adopts 2026 budget ordinance after reducing general fund ask by $8 million
Summary
The Health and Hospital Corporation board approved Ordinance No. 3-2025-A, the 2026 budget, after interim CFO James Simpson reported a $8 million reduction in the general fund expenditure request and updated assessed values from the Marion County assessor. The ordinance passed on a 6-0-1 roll call vote.
The Health and Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees on Tuesday adopted Ordinance No. 3-2025-A, the corporation's 2026 budget, after an update from interim CFO and assistant treasurer James Simpson showing changes driven by higher Marion County assessed values and an $8 million reduction in the general fund expenditure request.
Simpson, who presented the revised ordinance, said the Marion County assessor published certified net assessed values after the board's budget hearing, which increased assessed values and allowed the corporation to lower its tax rates while keeping levies the same. "So it's an $8,000,000 decrease in expenditures," Simpson said, referring to a tightening of the general fund request from $414,000,000 to $406,300,000.
The reduction, Simpson said, narrows the general fund deficit from just under $33,000,000 to just below $25,000,000. The board voted to adopt the ordinance by roll call: Trustee Doucette, Dr. Fish, Trustee Hanafi, Trustee Horn, Trustee O'Brien and Chair Bob Lazard voted yes; Vice Chair Drummer was absent. The recorded tally was 6 yes, 0 no, 1 absent.
Why it matters: the budget sets spending and tax-rate actions for the Health and Hospital Corporation — the public entity that operates Eskenazi Health and other services — and will be presented next to municipal and county review bodies. Paul Babcock, the corporation's president and CEO, told trustees the approved budget will be introduced to the Indianapolis City-County Council on Sept. 8 and presented to the Municipal Corporations Committee on Sept. 17.
Details of the update and next steps: Simpson said the certified assessed values permitted a lower tax rate on the fund while maintaining the same levy. He described working with the decision support and strategy team to identify the $8 million in expenditure reductions. Simpson also noted Eskenazi Health leadership is working on projected $35 million in operational improvements for 2026; those efforts were reported earlier in the meeting but were not reflected as a change in the ordinance.
The board moved and seconded the ordinance as follows: the motion to approve was made by Trustee O'Brien and seconded by Trustee Horn. After no members of the public signed up to speak on the ordinance, the board proceeded to a roll call vote and adopted Ordinance No. 3-2025-A.
What the record shows and limits: trustees and staff described the changes the board adopted during the meeting. The ordinance will now proceed through customary external reviews; trustees and staff said they will continue to seek further operational savings as they finalize the fiscal year 2026 operational budgets. No other formal amendments or conditions were recorded during the vote.
