FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — In Fort Wayne's budget for 2025, the page titled 'Civil City Budgeted Debt' shows that the city owes $332,132,157 in principle, but it's not a number that concerns officials. That number is the total of the leases, bonds and loans the city has taken out and still owes money on. We are responsible for over half a billion dollars a year of revenue in and out," said Garry Morr, Fort Wayne City Controller. "When I look at a few million here and there it doesn't really concern me too much." Morr's nonchalant attitude toward Fort Wayne's current debt isn't without cause. In his mind, it's confidence gained through shrewd financial maneuvers. "Parkview Field... I think people would look at that and consider that good debt," Morr said. "That was a great investment. That has paid off. I can't even imagine how many times throughout the years." When the city tackles big projects where they need to issue bonds or seek a lease, they normally lessen the blow by supplementing the project with other funding sources. "If we are talking about debt, are we going to leverage those with other funds?" Morr said while talking about the city's attitude toward debt. He said that the city isn't holding an abundance of long-term debt (although bonds for the riverfront and Parkview Field are paid off over 19.5 years and Electric Works over 25 years). He's confident that the city won't soon need to take money out. "Right now I don't see any need to or in the future, especially given the interest rates are still high, and we are very fortunate that the exiting debt we do have, we have refinanced," Morr said. "We've saved millions of dollars on the debt that we do have." Fort Wayne City Council starts first week of city budget discussions To Morr, bonds and loans are tools the city has and still can wield to get transformative projects across the finish line, like the ballpark, Electric Works, the Riverfront and Promenade Park. "People love Promenade Park and they love the riverfront and the development that is happening there," Morr said. "To me, I would describe that as good debt." You can see all of Fort Wayne's debt as reflected in the 2025 budget below. Fort-Wayne-City-DebtDownload