South Bend Mayor focuses on neighborhoods, public safety with 2019 budget plan

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg kicked off a series of 9 public budget hearings Wednesday with a PowerPoint presentation showcasing his office’s hopeful plans with the city budget.

“We’re really excited about what we can do from investing in good technology for the city to taking care of the basics,” said South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg and other South Bend city officials are getting down to business with plans for the future of the city. Mayor Buttigieg presented this budget overview Wednesday to the common council, which included current city projects and ideas for the future.

“You’re going to see a lot this year around neighborhoods. We’re trying to make sure that we’re able to fund everything from streets improvements to curbs and sidewalks, lighting, but we’re really trying to double down on quality of life,” said Buttigieg.

We took to the streets to find out what you thought about past budget expenditures. Chicago native, now South Bend resident Ray Tamborski says he’s seen a lot of nice changes across the city, but he wishes there was more investment in social gatherings.

“I’m very happy to see all the LimeBikes on the streets and stuff and people are enjoying them and riding them. I’ve been seeing a lot of hotels and motels popping up in the area and it’s good for Notre Dame too because we have games on Saturdays and more people from crowds are coming in,” said Tamborski. “I would say more festivals; more interaction with the crowds and see more people having a greater time with bigger festivals.”

With an overall city budget of approximately $388 million in 2019, Mayor Buttigieg plans to focus heavily on quality of life in South Bend neighborhoods and public safety.

“The council questions tend to reflect what they’re hearing from residents and so residents are always asking about what we can do as a city to enhance neighborhood quality of life so the city invests a huge amount but were under increasing financial pressure to do it very efficiently and the pressure is only going to grow going into next year.” said Buttigieg.

Mayor Buttigieg also says his office is also trying to deliver on things that have been in motion for some time like inspections and engineering work to support the major parks improvements that are happening across the city this year.

Among these goals, a fiscal challenge he says is getting ahead of the 2020 tax cut which will tighten the city’s finances. But on the other end, the city’s economy and population continue to grow

Different city department officials are set to present in the coming weeks..

Click here to view the full PowerPoint presented by Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The next budget meeting will be held August 8th in the County City building’s 4th floor  inside the Council Chambers on the at 5:00 p.m.