Noblesville Council adopts 2026 budget, limits tax rate to $1 while projecting lower actual rate

The Noblesville Common Council on Tuesday adopted Ordinance No. 31-09-25 establishing the city’s 2026 budget and approved Resolution RC-36-25 to cap the maximum certified civil city property tax rate at $1.00 per $100 of assessed value.

Jeff Spalding, the city’s CFO and controller, told the council the document shows $119.2 million in reported fund totals but that adjusting for interfund transfers reduces the working total to about $112.9 million. Spalding said the adopted levy numbers on the ordinance provide an upper legal limit and that the administration expects the actual tax rate to be roughly $0.97.

"These establish an upper limit for what the city can legally levy," Spalding said, explaining the difference between the formal adopted numbers and the amounts the city plans to invoke. He added the upper limits give the city flexibility to respond to changes in assessed values or other external factors.

Mayor Johnson framed the budget as a constrained document after state-level changes, saying the proposed 2026 budget is about $8 million less than the 2025 budget and that city leaders will defer some capital projects and freeze hiring for positions not already budgeted. "An $8,000,000 reduction will be seen and felt," the mayor said, and the administration plans to defer items such as the Westside Dog Park and a salt barn and delay several trail and infrastructure projects.

Spalding and Deputy Financial Officer Tom McDonald walked the council through changes from the introduced to the adopted budget. McDonald said the net change is an increase of a little over $28,000 and listed specific adjustments: a $300,000 increase for police and fire compensation adjustments, roughly a $316,000 reduction in the fire department’s financing plan for SCBA respirators by instead using one-time cash (saving about $150,000 in interest costs over five years), a $50,000 increase for police overtime, and a $5,000 reduction to council financial advisory services.

The mayor emphasized priorities in the adopted plan, noting that approximately 54% of the proposed budget is devoted to public safety, up from about 52% last year. He also gave updated occupancy figures for downtown mixed-use projects, noting, for example, that the Levinson is at 98% occupancy and Eastbank (the newest) is at about 42%.

Public comment included resident Todd Webster, who said he has researched municipal debt and claimed the city has added about $246 million in ongoing debt. "When we look at $8,000,000 a year in payments, I look at that as a private citizen — that's $8,000,000 the city has to be focused on," Webster said. Mayor Johnson responded that much of the debt shown on the balance sheet is infrastructure or developer-backed bonds and is not operational debt borne by taxpayers. He also clarified that the relocation of USA Gymnastics was supported with preexisting TIF dollars, not a new tax levy.

Council members amended and approved the budget ordinance as presented. The council adopted the budget ordinance by roll-call vote, 8 ayes, 0 nays, and approved the companion resolution limiting the certified tax rate by hand vote, 8-0.

The council directed staff to post updated budget documents and noted that further administrative steps remain to finalize the certified levies and rates with the state department of local government finances.