Welcome to The Timesheet. This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative, too – a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.
As your employee, it’s important to me that you know what is being worked on as transparently as possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you’ll choose to be informed by regularly reading this column, getting involved, consider volunteering, and by asking questions. Council meetings are at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month at the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center in downtown Noblesville. Meetings are also available to watch online for those unable to attend in person.
Here is where my time this past month has been spent.
In addition to the County Council public meetings, September work included: attending and watching Board of Commissioners public meetings, watching Noblesville and Cicero Town Council meetings, and attending a 2026 budget planning meeting to study the impact on county revenue from Senate Bill 1.
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The in-person September personnel committee meeting was canceled in lieu of a poll of the members. The poll required that we evaluate the promotion of an employee in the Highway Department along with double slotting a replacement for a retiring employee. The changes result in net savings of $30,682.01 (including benefits). The changes were approved.
The insurance committee did not meet in September. The finance committee did not meet in September. The not-for-profit review committee completed its work with over $300,000 reduced from 2025 county general awards.
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September work is the heart of your county council’s responsibility. It’s budget work that is the culmination of months’ worth of work from department heads, council members, and numerous staff. The Department of Local Government and Finance is the ultimate oversight body for this process and they issue very strict regulations for budget submittal, compliance, tax rates and approval. We are asked to manage the growth in services required for our increasing population with expected lower property tax revenue. This is tantamount to finding money to reduce budgets that departments submit as necessary. It can be anxiety filled and it can be contentious. From my seat we had some of both.
The process doesn’t require a balanced budget. Your county council, however, does! Fortunately, Hamilton County has strong reserves because of solid fiscal oversight and not getting out over our skis on projects.
It has been my objective each year for the council to begin the year with a balanced budget. From last month you may recall that several county funds began the year with deficit balances. Difficult choices had to be made with cuts in capital spending, elimination of requested positions, and the reduction in contracted expenses creating a 2026 balanced budget.
I occasionally receive comments from constituents implying a “go along” philosophy from the council. I can’t make this clearer: inside the rooms when the battles get fought, nothing gets taken for granted. If you watched the budget hearings (they are on the county YouTube channel) you will see some of this process. That said, few of these battles are fought publicly. We maintain professional decorum with much of the debate happening in hours of meetings, calls, texts, and email exchanges.
The idea that the council doesn’t maintain its checks and balances on spending simply is incorrect. The desire to do the right thing is real. Balancing exponential growth, while maintaining one of the lowest county tax rates in the state, with the voter’s expectations for good timely services, with reductions in funding all while keeping over one thousand employees is not an easy task. Frankly, it’s one of the most difficult achievements in my professional career.
While I don’t enjoy making people unhappy, tough decisions must be made and you hired us to make them. In the end, after multiple budget sessions we found the necessary reductions to balance the 2026 county budget against expected reductions in property tax revenue. In the end, we needed roughly $15 million in expense reduction and we got it.
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This month I received five constituent service requests and communications.
One set of communications was again regarding the 236th Street project in Jackson Township. Happily, I can report that the road is open for east-west traffic. It’s been a long beast of a project.
I also heard from constituents regarding our body sending back to the Sheridan Town Council the Dunbar Road project. Essentially, local homeowners did not want a trail as part of this federal match road construction project. Through the county legislative process, the decision was moved back to local Sheridan council authorities.
I heard from a neighbor regarding the project construction at 146th Street and Allisonville Road – specifically, the changes in traffic flow, the timing of communications and expressing frustration over the length of the process and project. I researched and made sure that the constituent was receiving up-to-date announcements from the County Highway Department.
Lastly, I heard from a local merchant about parking problems for his business. After researching alternatives, I connected them with the management of the County Parking Facility where they can discuss leasing parking spaces from the county during off hours.
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Noteworthy items from September center on the 2026 budget. Twenty-four of the 27 departments asked for increases in their 2026 budgets. Without question, this budget was the most challenging I’ve had the opportunity to work on.
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It was an honor to represent you in September at the Silver Sneakers benefit ball, at a tour of the Noblesville Ivy Tech Campus with Dr. Rachel Kartz, in meeting with Sheridan Schools Superintendent Dr. Dave Mundy, at the Hamilton County AI Forum, and at the Cicero Labor Day Car Show in Red Bridge Park.
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This is my timesheet. This is where my time went during September 2025. While my job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget, it is important that I understand the Board of Commissioners’ priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.
As a taxpayer myself, and listening to so many of you, our employers, it’s important for the taxpayers to have access to all the information you want. I work for you, and although you may not choose to do a deep dive into what your County Council does, it’s important that you can always do so.
Feel free to contact me at (317) 832-1104 or mark.hall@hamiltoncounty.in.gov with questions, feedback, or if you would like to talk about county business.