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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

White County Council, District 1

Voted on across White County, in district 1.

Find your exact ballotAll White County races

Who votes on this seat: Only voters who live in District 1 vote in this race. 2026 General Election Candidate List

What this office does

The county council is the county's fiscal body: it sets the county property tax rate, appropriates the money the county spends and fixes the pay and number of county employees [1, 2, 3]. Most councils have seven members, four elected from districts and three elected countywide (at large), though some larger counties elect all members by district [1, 4]. The board of commissioners runs county government day to day, while the council controls the money [5, 6]. Marion County has no separate county council; the 25-member Indianapolis City-County Council serves as the legislative body for the consolidated city-county government [7, 8].

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term
4 years, starting January 1 after the election; district seats and at-large seats are filled at alternating general elections [9]
Elected
On the partisan general-election ballot; in most counties four members are elected by district voters and three at large by the whole county, while counties of 400,000–700,000 residents elect seven members by district and opt-in counties of 185,000–300,000 elect nine by district [4, 1]. Every county council race on the 2026 state candidate list is a district seat [10]
At-large races
All three at-large seats are filled at the same election, so voters may choose up to three candidates and the top three vote-getters win; straight-ticket votes do not count in these multi-seat races [4, 11]
Term limit
None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a member may serve [9]
Qualifications
Must have lived in the county at least one year, and in the district (for a district seat) at least six months, before the election, and be registered to vote in the election district; a county employee who is elected must leave that county job on taking office [12, 13]
Pay
Set locally in the council's annual ordinance fixing the compensation of county officers and employees [3, 14]
On the 2026 ballot
368 races; 147 contested [10]
What the law puts in this job (13)
  • Serves as the county fiscal body under the name of the county council [1].
  • Sets the county property tax rate and other countywide rates not fixed by state law [2].
  • Appropriates county money; except as otherwise provided by law, money may leave the county treasury only under an appropriation the council makes [2].
  • Adopts the annual budget at a yearly meeting where the county auditor presents budget estimates; budget ordinances must be read on two separate days, and funding an item above the estimates takes a three-fourths vote [14].
  • Adopts a separate salary ordinance setting the pay of county officers and employees and the number of deputies and employees in each office, after considering the commissioners' recommendations [14, 3].
  • Sets pay schedules and job classifications paid from the county general, highway, park and other funds, except that each local health department board sets pay for its own staff [3].
  • Controls spending and revenue collection in the county, including special spending requests during the year [6].
  • Authorizes by ordinance the bonds that fund county road and bridge projects and can create a county housing authority by resolution [8].
  • Serves as the county legislative body as well as the fiscal body in Lake and St. Joseph counties [8].
  • Declares a commissioner's seat vacant when the commissioner moves out of the county or district, and in certain cases can remove a county commissioner from office [15, 13].
  • Becomes the body that adopts county local income tax rates under the 2025 SEA 1 overhaul, replacing local income tax councils; the change is now scheduled for ordinances adopted starting July 1, 2028 [16, 17].
  • Has its adopted budget, tax rate and levies reviewed by the state Department of Local Government Finance, whose county budget order certifies the approved budget, tax rate and levy for each fund [18].
  • Does not run county departments day to day; the commissioners provide administrative oversight and the council provides fiduciary oversight [5].

White County's numbers for this office

Legal Insights county office research (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Gateway budgets 2019-2026 and the indicator sources linked on each line.

This office's 2026 budget

$207,243

0.5% of the county's adopted 2026 budget

2019: $02020: $02021: $2,883,0002022: $1,200,0002023: $4,571,9342024: $2,147,9772025: $535,0002026: $207,243
2019 $02026 $207,243
The year-by-year figures

Adopted budget, all funds, 2019-2026 (not adjusted for inflation)

  • 2019: $0
  • 2020: $0
  • 2021: $2,883,000
  • 2022: $1,200,000
  • 2023: $4,571,934
  • 2024: $2,147,977
  • 2025: $535,000
  • 2026: $207,243

Budget lines counted: 0061 COUNTY COUNCIL

Adopted 2026 county budget (Form 1 line items, Form 4B) and earlier years' budgets

Also on the record for this office

  • SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-906,300 (LSA)
  • MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
  • wheel tax: discussed
  • fiscal consultant named in records: Baker Tilly

Measured, for this county

A position compares this county with counties of similar size. It is not a grade: for most measures a higher or lower number is neither good nor bad on its own.

General Fund cash, in days of spending · 2025

222 days

End-of-2025 General Fund cash divided by a year's disbursements, times 365.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council and commissioners jointly): spending and appropriation decisions

Position 19 of 33 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of the 2025 General Fund budget spent · 2025

89.7%

Actual General Fund spending divided by the certified budget.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council appropriates; commissioners and officers spend)

Position 31 of 33 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County debt per resident · 2025

$20.05

Debt outstanding at the end of 2025 (annual financial report).

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council authorizes borrowing; commissioners initiate many projects)

Position 24 of 27 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Budget growth, 2023 to 2026 · 2023-2026

-12.3%

Adopted budget, all funds, not adjusted for inflation.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council adopts the budget)

Position 33 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

SEA 1 estimate for 2028 · 2028 (LSA estimate)

-7.4%

Legislative Services Agency estimate of the county government's revenue change under the 2025 property tax law, compared with prior law.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set by state law (SEA 1-2025); local rate choices from 2028 change the outcome

Position 11 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Property tax cap credits · 2026

2.8%

Tax-cap (circuit breaker) credits as a share of the 2026 levy: revenue the county does not collect because of the caps.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set mainly by the constitutional caps and the combined rates of all units in the county

Position 32 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Local income tax share of county revenue · 2026

48.9%

How much of the county's revenue comes from local income tax.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: partial: the council adopts local income tax rates within limits set by state law

Position 11 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Meeting minutes online · 2026-10

Posted (format not checked)

Whether the council's or commissioners' minutes are posted online (the better of the two), checked Oct. 2026.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (commissioners and council decide what they post)

About this race

  • White County (county seat: Monticello) has a seven-member county council: four district members and three at-large members [23].
  • Issues on the council's 2025 agendas included a wheel tax and local income tax (May and June 2025). The June 2025 agenda also listed property-tax abatement decisions under the 2025 state law (SEA 1). Agendas also carried yearly compliance reviews (CF-1 forms) for the county's wind, solar and biogas projects, among them Indiana Crossroads Wind, Meadow Lake Wind and Solar, Rosewater Wind and Calvary Solar. Other items were sheriff pay tiers, a Monticello Fire Department ladder truck and a 911 director opening [25, 26, 27].
  • Primary: Both candidates were unopposed in the May 5, 2026 primary: Christopher received 903 Republican votes and Kelly Jones 163 Democratic votes [24].
  • Other council primaries the same day: incumbent James Annis lost the District 2 Republican primary to Craig Stevenson, and council president Raymond L. (Butch) Kramer Jr. lost the District 3 Republican primary to Judy Feldbusch [24, 23].
  • No candidate forums, questionnaires or news coverage of this race were found in sources reviewed.

Candidates on the ballot

Steven Christopher

RepublicanIncumbent

Republican incumbent, elected unopposed in 2022 and unopposed in the 2026 primary. No campaign statements were found [22, 24].

Christopher's background

  • Current District 1 member of the White County Council [23].
  • His BallotReady candidate profile lists Midwest Medical Hearing Aid Group as his professional experience and service on the Frontier School Board, and a bachelor's degree from Purdue University [28].

Christopher on the current officeholder

  • Is the current officeholder. No statements by Christopher about his challenger were found.

How Christopher got on the ballot

  • Unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary, with 903 votes [24].

What we could not find about Christopher

  • Council minutes are not posted online, so his votes on the budget, the wheel tax and local income tax, abatements and energy projects could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • Year he first joined the council not confirmed; a different member held District 1 after the 2014 election.
  • No news coverage, questionnaire answers or campaign materials found.
  • No campaign website or published plan was found.
  • No endorsements or campaign finance reports were found.

Sources for Christopher

Kelly Jones

Democratic

Democrat Kelly Jones was unopposed in the May 2026 Democratic primary for District 1. No information on Jones's background or positions was found [24].

Jones's background

  • Sources reviewed do not describe Jones's occupation or background.

How Jones got on the ballot

  • Unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary, with 163 votes [24].

What we could not find about Jones

  • No campaign website, questionnaire answers or news coverage found; background and positions unknown.
  • Kelly Jones is a common name; no records could be tied to this candidate.
  • No campaign website or published plan was found.
  • No statements by Jones about Christopher's record were found.
  • No endorsements or campaign finance reports were found.

Sources for Jones

Key points

  • Issues on the council's 2025 agendas included a wheel tax and local income tax (May and June 2025). The June 2025 agenda also listed property-tax abatement decisions under the 2025 state law (SEA 1). (White County, Indiana)
  • White County government adopted a $43.4 million budget for 2026, about $1,725 per resident; that is -12.3% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)
  • Legislative Services Agency estimate: the 2025 property tax law (SEA 1) changes the county government's net property tax levy by -7.4% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Indiana Code 36-2-3-2: County council as fiscal body; size (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  2. Indiana Code 36-2-5-2: Tax rates and appropriations (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  3. Indiana Code 36-2-5-3: Compensation of officers and employees (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  4. Indiana Code 36-2-3-4: Council districts and at-large members (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  5. Commissioners Responsibilities (Boone County, Indiana)
  6. About the County Council (Hancock County, Indiana)
  7. Indiana Code 36-2-3-1: Application of chapter (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  8. County Government Overview: Indiana (National Association of Counties (NACo))
  9. Indiana Code 36-2-3-3: Election and term of fiscal body (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  10. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  11. Monroe County voters put three incumbent Democrats back on county council (The B Square Bulletin (Dave Askins))
  12. Indiana Code 3-8-1-22: Candidates for county council (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  13. 2026 Indiana Candidate Guide (Indiana Election Division)
  14. Indiana Code 36-2-5-11: Annual budget, tax rate and salary ordinances (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  15. Indiana Code 36-2-2-5: Qualifications and residency of members; district or countywide election (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  16. Major Changes to Expenditure Rate of LIT in SEA 1 (2025) (Barnes & Thornburg LLP)
  17. Legislation Affecting Local Income Taxes (memorandum on HEA 1210-2026) (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  18. County Specific Information (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  19. Certified 2022 General Election Summary Report (White County, Indiana)
  20. County Council (White County, Indiana)
  21. 2026 Primary Election Summary Report (White County, Indiana)
  22. White County Council agenda, May 19, 2025 (White County, Indiana)
  23. White County Council agenda, June 16, 2025 (White County, Indiana)
  24. White County Council agenda, July 21, 2025 (White County, Indiana)
  25. Steven Christopher (candidate profile) (BallotReady)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.