City government · Lake County, IN

Gary's money: where it comes from and where it goes

In the latest recorded fiscal year (ended December 31, 2023), Gary took in $166 million and spent $232 million.

Latest recorded year: ended December 31, 2023Comes fromGoes to

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Where it comes from

Fees for services (sewer, airport)50%City taxes29%County and local tax money6.7%State tax money6.1%Federal tax money5.7%Fines and other2.2%

What stands out

50%

of Gary's money comes from fees for services such as water, sewer and parking.A typical U.S. city of 50,000+ people gets 30%.

City taxes29%

Property tax
28%$45.9 million
Other taxes
1.0%$1.6 million
What's in other taxesOther licenses; occupation and business licenses and 1 more
  • Other licenses$1.3 million
  • Occupation and business licenses$210 thousand
  • Other taxes not classified elsewhere$136 thousand

Amounts are by Census tax category.

Fees for services50%

Fees for services
50%$83.6 million
What's in fees for servicesSewer; other service charges and 4 more
  • Sewer$76.0 million
  • Other service charges$3.8 million
  • Airport$3.0 million
  • Transit fares$479 thousand
  • Parking$154 thousand
  • Parks and recreation$151 thousand

Amounts are by Census type of charge.

Federal tax money5.7%

Grants from Washington, paid for by the federal taxes residents also pay.

From the federal government
5.7%$9.5 million

State tax money6.1%

Money the state passes on, paid for by the state taxes residents also pay.

From the state
6.1%$10.1 million

County and local tax money6.7%

Money passed on by the county or other local governments.

From the county and other local governments
6.7%$11.1 million

Fines and other2.2%

Interest, rents and other
1.7%$2.8 million
Fines
0.5%$908 thousand

Where it goes

Running the government and other costs45%Police, fire, courts and jails20%Water, sewer, trash and utilities16%Roads, transit and parking12%Interest on debt3.0%All other spending4.5%

What stands out

45%

of Gary's spending goes to running the government and other costs.A typical U.S. city of 50,000+ people spends 16%.

Spending by category100%

Running the government and other costs
45%$105 million
What's in running the government and other costsOther and not broken out; central staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology) and 2 more
  • Other and not broken out$99.0 million
  • Central staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology)$3.0 million
  • Finance, tax collection and budgeting$1.7 million
  • Government buildings$1.5 million
Police, fire, courts and jails
20%$45.3 million
What's in police, fire, courts and jailsPolice; fire protection and 2 more
  • Police$26.4 million
  • Fire protection$16.5 million
  • Courts and legal services$2.4 million
  • Probation, parole and other corrections$38 thousand
Water, sewer, trash and utilities
16%$36.3 million
What's in water, sewer, trash and utilitiesSewer systems and garbage and solid waste
  • Sewer systems$34.4 million
  • Garbage and solid waste$1.9 million
Roads, transit and parking
12%$27.6 million
What's in roads, transit and parkingAirports; public transit and 1 more
  • Airports$13.1 million
  • Public transit$9.3 million
  • Roads and highways$5.2 million
Interest on debt
3.0%$6.9 million
Housing and community development
1.7%$4.0 million
Health and hospitals
1.5%$3.6 million
What's in health and hospitalsPublic health
  • Public health$3.6 million
Parks, recreation and libraries
1.2%$2.8 million
What's in parks, recreation and librariesParks and recreation
  • Parks and recreation$2.8 million
Social services
<0.1%$15 thousand
What's in social servicesOther public welfare
  • Other public welfare$15 thousand
Sources and moreWhere these numbers come from and what they cover

City of Gary. U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, individual unit file, fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

What this covers. The money of City of Gary itself. Other governments that serve the same area (the city, county, school district and state) are separate and not included. Borrowing, transfers between a government's own funds, and pension trust funds are not counted as revenue.