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Fort Wayne, Indiana
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
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| General information | |
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| Mayor: | Tom Henry |
| Mayor party: | Democratic |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2027 |
| City council seats: | 9 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 256,496 |
| Gender: | Female 51.6% |
| Race: | White 73.6% African American 15.4% Asian 3.3% Two or More 3.5% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino 8.0% |
| Median household income: | $44,599 |
| High school graduation rate: | 88.0% |
| College graduation rate: | 25.6% |
| Related Fort Wayne offices | |
| Indiana Congressional Delegation Indiana State Legislature Indiana state executive offices | |
Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana. As of 2013, its population was 256,496.[1]
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Fort Wayne utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[2]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive, and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and committee members and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels.[2] Tom Henry is the current Mayor of Fort Wayne.[3]
City Council
The Fort Wayne City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes and making or amending city laws and policies.[4]
Membership
The city council consists of nine members. Three are elected at large, while the other six are elected by the city's six districts.[4]
A full list of city council members can be found here.
Commissions, boards and committees
A series of advisory boards and commissions that are made up of non-elected citizens, whom city council members have appointed and approved, advises the Fort Wayne City Council. The roles of these boards and commissions are to review, debate, and comment upon city policies and legislation and to make recommendations to the city council.[5]
For a full list of Lincoln's commissions, boards and committees, see here.
Mayoral partisanship
Fort Wayne has a Democratic mayor. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2019
2015
The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. A primary election took place on May 5, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 6, 2015. All nine city council seats were up for election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic data for Fort Wayne, Indiana (2015) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne | Indiana | |
| Total population: | 257,059 | 6,612,768 |
| Land area (square miles): | 111 | 35,826 |
| Race and ethnicity[6] | ||
| White: | 74% | 84.2% |
| Black/African American: | 15.4% | 9.2% |
| Asian: | 3.8% | 1.9% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0% |
| Two or more: | 4% | 2.2% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 8.2% | 6.4% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 88.3% | 87.8% |
| College graduation rate: | 26.1% | 24.1% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $43,774 | $49,255 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19% | 18.4% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) | ||
Budget
The city's budget process operates on fiscal years (FY) that align with the standard calendar. For example, the FY 2015 budget started on January 1, 2015, and ended on December 31, 2015. The Fort Wayne City Controller initiates the budget process each June, when instructions on the budget process are delivered to city departments. Proposed budgets are reviewed by the city's Division of Finance and Administration before they are delivered to the Fort Wayne Common Council and the mayor in September. The Common Council has the ability to reduce appropriations for budget categories, but cannot increase appropriations. State law requires an approved budget by November 1.[7]
2017
Fort Wayne's adopted operating budget for FY 2017 was $195 million. This total represents a roughly 1.6 percent increase over the FY 2016 adopted budget.[8]
Some highlights from the 2017 budget included:[9]
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Click here to see the sources of government revenue in the 100 largest cities in America by population in fiscal year 2017.
2016
Fort Wayne's adopted operating budget for FY 2016 was $192 million. This total represented a roughly 1 percent increase over the FY 2015 adopted budget.[11]
2015
Fort Wayne's adopted operating budget for FY 2015 was $190 million. This total represented a 4.1 percent increase over the FY 2014 adopted budget. The city experienced a 5.6 percent increase in personnel services costs caused in part by a 2 percent salary increase for non-union employees. The FY 2015 budget included a 25.9 percent decrease in capital outlay costs, which include facilities costs that aren't covered by bonds or leases. A majority (54.2 percent) of the city's revenues came from property taxes with intergovernmental revenues accounting for 19.6 percent and miscellaneous taxes representing 17.3 percent.[7]
2014
Fort Wayne's adopted operating budget for FY 2014 was $180 million.[12]
Fort Wayne, Indiana salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
City of Fort Wayne
Citizens Square
200 East Berry St., Suite 425
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: (260) 427-8311
To contact individual council members, see here.
Lobbying
In 2013, Fort Wayne's federal lobbying-related expenses amounted to approximately $80,000.[13] The issues for which the city filed in 2013, as well as the number of reports, can be seen in the box below. The issues column lists the generic issues that lobbyists working for local governments are required by law to disclose on quarterly federal disclosure forms.[14][15] The reports column gives the number of reports lobbyists filed in regards to each generic issue. To learn more about the details of the specific issues for which Fort Wayne filed reports, read the federal disclosure forms by clicking the "Issues" links in the box below.
| Federal Lobbying Issues, 2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reports | Issues | ||
| 4 | Fed Budget & Appropriations | ||
| 4 | Environment & Superfund | ||
| 4 | Transportation | ||
| 4 | Utilities | ||
| 2 | Natural Resources | ||
Ballot measures
- See also: Allen County, Indiana ballot measures
The city of Fort Wayne is in Allen County. A list of ballot measures in Allen County is available here.
Issues in the city
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Fort Wayne, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Fort Wayne, Indiana, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Allen County Courthouse.[16] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
Nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[17]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
Pensions
| Fund | Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) | UAAL as a Percentage of Covered Payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Public Employees' Retirement Fund | $31,955,519 | 65% |
| Police Officers' Pension Plan | $113,543,840 | 14,518% |
| Firefighters' Pension Plan | $97,902,419 | 195,414% |
| Sanitary Officers' Pension | $6,192,873 | N/A |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "State and County Quick Facts," accessed August 25, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fort Wayne City Code, Sec. 31.01
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "Office of the Mayor," accessed August 18, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fort Wayne City Council Website, accessed August 19, 2014
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "Boards," accessed August 26, 2014
- ↑ Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 City of Fort Wayne, "City of Fort Wayne: 2015 Budget in Brief," December 15, 2014
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "2017 Budget Book," accessed June 23, 2017
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "2017 Budget Presentation," accessed June 23, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "2016 Budget Book," accessed June 23, 2017
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "Budget Overview, FY 2014," accessed August 25, 2014
- ↑ Open Secrets, "City of Fort Wayne, IN," accessed November 11, 2014
- ↑ U.S. House of Representatives: Office of the Clerk, "Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance," accessed November 11, 2014
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Methodology," accessed November 11, 2014
- ↑ WPTA 21, "‘I can’t breathe’ protesters gather at Allen County courthouse demanding justice for George Floyd," May 29, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑ Official Fort Wayne website, "2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report," accessed November 9, 2011
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