The pattern of local environmental spending in Indonesian regions during 2017–2024 indicates that environmental expenditure remained a relatively low fiscal priority despite temporary increases during the pandemic period. Average environmental spending fell sharply from 14.28% in 2017 to only 1.63% in 2018 and remained below 3% through 2024, likely reflecting changes in expenditure classification or shifts in regional fiscal priorities. A modest increase occurred during the COVID-19 period, with spending rising to 2.62% in 2020 and peaking at 2.78% in 2021, possibly driven by sanitation and environmental health programs. Significant disparities also emerged across regions, with urban areas such as Surabaya and Medan allocating considerably larger shares toward environmental spending at 13.80% and 11.60%, respectively, far above the national average. Moreover, the distribution of spending shows that around 75% of regions allocated less than 3.01% of their budgets to environmental programs, although several extreme outliers reached nearly 40%, indicating the presence of large-scale but temporary environmental projects in certain regions.