EVANSVILLE – Evansville officials want people to move here – so much so that they're willing to pay them.
Some would-be residents can get as much as $5,000 in cash for relocating to the city. It's all part of an initiative E-REP launched last year with MakeMyMove that aims to draw in remote workers whose jobs allow them to live anywhere in the country.
And Evansville is far from the only one. The city was one several featured in a recent CNN article about towns ponying up cash to attract residents. The Evansville package contains perks beyond the cash including museum passes and tickets to orchestra performances.
Abby Elpers, E-REP's marketing director, said the local initiative snagged 15 households and 31 people in total so far, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue.
But there are several stipulations. Mainly, cash recipients already have to be making a significant amount of money.
Elpers said requirement include:
- Recipients must work full-time and be able to keep their current jobs while relocating.
- Or they're self-employed and able to hold onto their clients
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Currently live outside of Indiana.
- And already make at least $60,000 a year.
That last figure is about $10,000 more than the city's median household income, according to U.S. Census data.
Cost of living in Evansville is rising
The city may soon need all the residents it can get.
Last week, dozens of locals took the mic at field hearings for CenterPoint Energy's latest request to increase rates. Evansville-area citizens already pay the highest residential electrical costs in the state, and now the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will decide if those rates will balloon even more.
Due to overhauls to the city's ancient sewer system and a new, forthcoming water treatment plant, water and sewer utility bills have also skyrocketed in recent years. Between 2017 and 2022, average city water bills increased by 58%, a Courier & Press study found. Sewer bills for county and city residents also shot up.
Speakers at the CenterPoint field hearing said they felt like they were being held captive. And some said they might have no choice but to move – even though they're desperate to stay in a place many of them have called home their entire lives.
It's not just citizens. In the past few weeks, the Evansville City Council voted to intervene in the case and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners and Vanderburgh County Council both passed resolutions opposing the increase.
"(CenterPoint) South’s rates and taxes already rank the highest in the state since 2008 and among the highest in the region," the commissioners' resolution states. "And this increase will only further the disparity between utility rates in Vanderburgh County and other nearby regions that might be competing for the same residents and businesses."