After this year's state's budget overhaul, Sakbun says businesses are going to get a very large handout and the everyday Hoosier who is fighting through inflation really needs the help.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun addresses these issues and more Tuesday at city hall. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: I see it was graduation week. What does the state need to do to reduce the brain drain, that term we use about educating students and then sending them to other places?
Sakbun: I actually just wrote a flashpoint editorial in the Tribune-Star talking about the need for the Hoosier State, cities and regions to embrace innovation, technology, and start coming up with clear plans and clear initiatives to retain some of the many college graduates across the state of Indiana. Recent studies have shown that the state's really good at bringing people into our state for college, but we do a poor job at retaining them, and of course, workforce development we need to improve there, which the city currently is with adult education programs like the Goodwill Excel Center and partnerships with our school corporation. So I think that's a model that should be applied across the state.
It's time to think in terms of decades not election cycles. The Hoosier state and cities have to focus on talent retention and embrace innovation. pic.twitter.com/SJ782tAf9w — Brandon Sakbun (@BSakbun) May 13, 2025
The See You In Terre Haute Community Plan is a playbook. How do you run an offense and chase projects like that? How do you run a defense and focus on talent retention and keeping families here. There's conversations about how we need to improve the schools. Let's find a way to maybe use different funding outside of a property tax referendum, because we understand the burden on taxpayers, and we do that through partnerships and conversations with the city, county, business leaders, individuals, teachers and the school corporation. It talks about how we need to reinvigorate our streetscapes, our sidewalks, our right of ways, balancing green space development and also building better neighborhoods.
Hren: I know you've been busy at the Statehouse standing up for Indiana cities and towns during this year's legislative session. We talked with Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon last week, she said, they're just trying to figure out the new tax law. Where is Terre Haute right now with the new tax law?
Sakbun: We've run an initial three year analysis and it's really going to hamper growth and development from that perspective, which focuses a further emphasis on grant based funding and public private partnerships with the private sector, which I love doing anyways.
What I think is really frustrating is this bill at the end of the day is not providing a ton of relief for homeowners. Businesses are going to get a very large handout and the everyday Hoosier who is fighting through inflation, they're fighting through high cost, high rates, high loan rates. I mean, they're the ones who need the help, right?
I look at our state, I look at the median wages in our state, and I look at the people of Terre Haute and say, man, we just created a tax bill that was, awkwardly, supposed to help them, but helps their employers more than it helps them. And we're already such a pro, business-friendly state.
Read more: Braun says 'nothing got hammered' in budget cuts, defends slashing local public health funding
There are some frustrating components in this bill, Joe. One of my biggest frustrations is the state now wants local governments to vote to certify their income tax. And as soon as you're able to do that, is the fall of 2027 right before elections, which you know me being a mayor, I personally think, what unit of government is forcing someone to take a vote like that, where you have to spend so much time on communication, so much time on financial analysis, literally weeks before an election, and it does feel a little bit politically motivated, I'll be honest, and I hope our legislators really take the time to look at that.
Hren: What did you learn going to the Statehouse to speak on these matters. Do Indiana cities and towns have a voice in the legislature?
Sakbun: I think that voice needs to be further amplified. Definitely. I look at some of the voting history with some individuals, and I question it, because it's like, well, that's going to hurt your district more than anything else. But. That is on us. It's on mayors, city councils, county commissioners, county councils, to do a better job having conversations with our statewide elected officials. And to be honest, I did really enjoy working with a number of them, showing them financial impacts, showing them fiscal impacts, and so that way they understand their decision.
I know that they're not all going to vote the certain way that I'd like them to. It can be frustrating because it's like, I wish you could see from our perspective, but it's something we're always working on. What I do know is I have been well received by a number of those legislators from across the aisle, because we bring a data driven discussion to them. We say, hey, look, here's the facts. Here's how we're interpreting this. Can we get some further explanations, or can we hear from your perspective as well?
It's the chain of command, right? Federal, state and local government and all those cuts, all those changes, roll downhill. Mayors have nowhere to hide. We see our constituents every day in the grocery store, going out to eat or, you know, even at church, right? So it definitely feels like at times, when you're navigating cuts and uncertainty, you're kind of at the front end of it. We've accepted that.
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Hren: I want to get your take on what we're seeing with ICE going on in Terre Haute and Bloomington... we understand that falls outside of the city's legal authority, but we've had Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson offering organizations legal service providers in the community with expertise in immigration law. So it makes me wonder if community members are coming to the mayor, to the city, asking for any help on this situation.
Sakbun: We've had a number of individuals stop by. They are in the immigration process, which a lot of people will say, oh, just get on the path to citizenship. My family has experienced just how challenging that can be, even when you're playing by all the rules set forth by the federal government. And I certainly hope Congress, at some point reviews that system.
My professional role, not my personal thoughts and opinions, all we could do is say, hey, look, there's some attorneys in Indianapolis that focus on this. We don't have any local attorneys, to my knowledge, that strictly focus on this field. If you would like to leave your case number that we can send to our federal delegation for assistance from them, we can do that as well.
To be very transparent, Joe, we did have a violent crime incident with one individual who did not have the required paperwork to be here, we contacted state and federal authorities, just as we have always done. And that situation has been dealt with. So it is very political, polarizing conversation, but being the son of immigrants, I value that entire conversation, because we should find ways to bring in other nations best and brightest. And of course, there's a handful of bad apples, and we should have systems and policies in place to address that at the state and federal level.
Read more: Terre Haute launches ambitious plan for waterfront amid financial hurdles
Hren: I really did want to get to the riverscape announcement. Lot of people showed up to know what the development plan is for the community. How did that go?
Sakbun: We break it down into districts. We've got to focus on pedestrian safety and a focus on public private partnerships. The city's already kicking this off thanks to the Lilly fund, the Wabash Valley Community Foundation and their support with the renovated YMCA center, and, of course, our parks, we're seeing investments there. And when we put our best foot forward, we've noticed that the private sector does too.
We're meeting with a number of prospective developers and current landowners, really envisioning what the next step could be, where we could go from here. You gotta have a plan. You gotta have a vision, right? You gotta have something that individuals and business owners can buy into and now that we have that, we'll work with them. Look, I'm thinking in terms of 10 years, 20 years, right? We're not going to rush to failure.
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Hren: There was a town hall meeting May 1 about the Federal Trade Commission urging that the Indiana Department of Health deny the Union Hospital, Terre Haute Regional Hospital merger. We talked about this last summer. Can you fill us in on how that went and where that's headed?
Sakbun: I'll offer my professional perspective. And I said this during that meeting, 90% of this entire timeline, I was vehemently against this merger. It was not until HCA made the very public statement and delivered data, saying, look, we're going to close it all down, even if Union does not buy it. So now I'm stuck in a position, where do you support a merger that keeps hundreds of high paying jobs in the community? It's an argument between the reality of the situation and then the ideology of whether or not you're willing to accept the concept of a very, very well regulated monopolization. Locally here, they gave 45 guarantees on how they can manage this. They've offered to make a multi-million dollar investment into Regional Hospital. They being Union.
A lot of statewide officials are now involved. And I just say, hey, look, come down and hear their story, right? I agree, from an overall economic perspective, is this the outcome that a city should want? No, it's not. But we're dealing with the facts and the reality of the situation, which ultimately pushed me to reversing my support. So Joe you have the most profitable hospital corporation struggling, then it probably does need to be owned by a non for profit hospital with a focus in Medicare and Medicaid and offering services that address those populations.
