What is Fort Wayne's Legacy Fund + how is it changing?

Hey Locals,

There’s plenty of news in Fort Wayne each week to keep us busy with breaking reports. But sometimes, we find it helpful to dive into a topic that’s less emergent and more foundational to understanding how the city and its various leadership roles and assets operate.

Today, we’re taking a deeper look at the city’s Legacy Fund, which has been an important topic behind-the-scenes at City Council in the past year as representatives weigh the value of various projects and proposals.

While most of us have heard the term “Legacy Fund” from time-to-time, we realize many residents – including ourselves – might not have a thorough understanding of the fund’s assets and purpose, or how it plays into conversations about projects and spending. We hope today’s report provides you with some insider knowledge on the topic that you can apply to projects and ideas you care about in the community.

So, let’s dive in.

For a quick refresher: City Council recently voted 7-1* to approve $1M in funding from the Fort Wayne Legacy Fund for Victory Gardens, a residential development in Southeast Fort Wayne. 

• The 74-home project will be funded in partnership with various entities, like Habitat for Humanity, Fort Wayne Housing Authority, and Realtist Association of Northeast Indiana. 
• It seeks to expand access to homeownership and signal market confidence in Southeast Fort Wayne, according to a statement from the City.

It’s worth noting: Council’s Legacy Fund approval for Victory Gardens comes months after Council changed the fund’s review process. It also previously paused disbursements* to help bolster the fund’s reserves. 

So what exactly is the Legacy Fund? How did it originate? What types of projects has it funded so far? And how can it remain sustainable for generations to come?

To answer these questions, we interviewed the City's Economic Development Administrator Andrea Robinson and City Council Administrator Megan Flohr. We also sifted through The JG’s online archives for find articles and op-eds from the past 15 years related to the fund.