Saint Joseph County Council begins 2025 budget meetings

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- St. Joseph County Council gathered Tuesday afternoon at the County-City Building to begin the first steps towards establishing the 2025 county budget.

A member of the council and representative for District F, Randy Figgs, said while there is a 4% increase from 2024 to 2025 in budget guidelines for departments, there should not be any major changes from this year’s budget to 2025.

“Some will come in and say ‘well I really need more’. Some will come in ‘well I need less’, some will come in ‘I need this project’, and we’ll discuss it as a council,” explained Figgs.

Department heads from around the county come to discuss their current budget, changes they would like to see and how they did on the previous budget. Departments present at Tuesday’s meeting included the county IT department, the History Museum and St. Joseph County Juvenile Justice, among others, including Tim Swager, the Saint Joseph County Treasurer.

“Me as a department head, it’s my opportunity to come in and make my first case to the council about what my department’s needs are and what our vision is for the future,” said Swager.

Each department has unique budget needs, ranging from overtime pay to building updates to department systems. The council will counter with their own questions for departments, exploring all avenues of budgeting and discovering what changes are necessary for the department.

The council will hold three meetings in total this week and three meetings the following week, all open to county department heads. The next portion of finalizing the 2025 budget will happen in September, where members of the public can come and voice questions and concerns about the proposed budget. Finally, the County Commission will approve or deny the 2025 budget in October.