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Indiana · 36,074 residents

How much does Plainfield spend?

$23.9M
spent from the general fund in

2026 is the budget the town voted. A year's actual spending is audited and published after it ends; the latest on file is 2025.

$663 per resident · $854 in towns its size · 2026 budget voted: $25.4M · all funds, 2026: $157.4M voted

2026 is the budget the town voted. A year's actual spending is audited and published after it ends; the latest on file is 2025.

What is Plainfield's money for?

Click a category to see what it pays for.

By categoryShare of budget against towns of the same size$23.9M

“elsewhere”: what towns the same size usually devotePlainfield devotes a larger share of its budgeta smaller share

Shares of the town's general-fund spending. “Elsewhere”: the median share among the towns of the state closest in population — half give more, half less. A town that pays for a category from another fund is left out of that median.

Compare with a town of the same size in Indiana

Plainfield versus Merrillville
PlainfieldMerrillville
Spending
$663 · $370 per residenttowns its size: $854
Police, fire and public safety
$0 · $185 per residenttowns its size: $479
Debt
$1,887 · $1,675 per residenttowns its size: $2,318

Per resident, 2025 accounts, against the towns of Indiana closest in population. A town above or below is not better or worse run.

What it builds, levies and owes

What it builds

$35.5Mof construction and equipment voted for 2026 · $983 per resident · +3.7% vs 2025

Construction and equipment in the budget the town voted for 2026, all its funds together. Indiana publishes what was actually spent for the general fund only, where towns rarely build.

Where it goes (25 lines)
Us 40 Tif Fund$8.4M
Ronald Reagan/Allpoints Tif Fund$6.0M
Six Points Tif Fund$5.2M
Klondike Tiff District$2.4M
Cumulative Capital Development$2.0M
East End TIF$1.9M
Special Fire Protection Territory Equipment Replace$1.8M
Cumulative Capital Imp$1.7M
710 Wastewater Operating$765,000
Economic Dev Income Tax Cedit$700,000
Sewer Line Inspection$580,000
715 Storm Water Operating$557,000

Property tax

$0.7958per $100 of assessed value · set for 2026 · −2.3% since 2022

The 20 towns of its size: $1.1403 · $33.4M to be raised

The civil city's or town's certified rate, all its funds, as the Department of Local Government Finance certifies it for the year taxes are paid. The county, the township, the schools and the library add their own. Indiana caps a homestead's total bill at 1% of its value.

What it owes

$68.1Mowed at the end of 2025 · $1,887 per resident

$2,318 in towns its size · $7.0M of principal due within a year · −59.7% since 2016

Its largest loans and bonds (of 15)
Sewage Works Revenue Bonds of 2015Wastewater · Revenue Bonds$15.4M
Sewage Works Revenue Bonds of 2020, Series AWastewater · Revenue Bonds$14.8M
Build Operate Transfer 2018 (Parking Facility)Governmental Activities · Other - Long Term$6.1M
General Obligation Bonds, Series 2025Governmental Activities · General Obligation Bonds$5.9M
Redevelopment District Bonds of 2019Governmental Activities · Revenue Bonds$5.6M
Sewage Works Refunding Revenue Bonds of 2020, Series BWastewater · Revenue Bonds$4.6M
GO Bonds - 2018 - Park and Roadway ProjectsGovernmental Activities · General Obligation Bonds$3.3M
Sewage Works Refunding Revenue Bonds of 2017 (After Partial Redemption)Wastewater · Revenue Bonds$3.0M
Redevelopment District Taxable Tax Increment Rev Bonds 2019Governmental Activities · Revenue Bonds$3.0M
Redevelopment District bonds of 2015 (SR 267 Project)Governmental Activities · Revenue Bonds$2.2M
PLAINFIELD SEWAGE WORKS REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2011AWastewater · Revenue Bonds$1.0M
General Obligation Bonds, Series 2021Governmental Activities · General Obligation Bonds$950,000

Every fund of the town, its utilities included: a water or sewer revenue bond is repaid from the bills, not from taxes. Source: the town's Annual Financial Report filed with the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

Voted for 2026

$25.4MThe budget the town adopted for 2026, by category. Its actual spending is not on file yet.

By category

Understand

What this page covers

General fund only, on both sides: the line-item budget each city or town files with the state, and what it actually disbursed, by department. The state publishes departmental actuals for the general fund alone.

Voted budget and actual spending

The voted budget is what the town approved before the year began. Actual spending is what it paid out, audited and reported to the state after the year ended. The two differ: money set aside is not always spent, and budgets are amended during the year.

Comparing with other towns in Indiana

Each state collects its towns' figures in its own way. Some report the general fund only, others every fund; some include schools and others leave them to separate school districts. Per-resident figures are compared between towns of the same state only. A few cities also do the work of a county — San Francisco and Jacksonville among them — and spend far more per resident than a city of the same size.

Source

Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and State Board of Accounts — Gateway (Form 1 budgets, Annual Financial Reports). The state's records ↗ Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (population reported with the unit), 2024 file.

Source: Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and State Board of Accounts — Gateway (Form 1 budgets, Annual Financial Reports).