Carmel tightens grip on redevelopment commission's cash

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) - Carmel’s City Council claimed more control of the city’s Redevelopment Commission Tuesday night. By a 6-1 vote, the council moved to restrict the commission’s spending habits. The vote means the commission cannot borrow any money without going to the council first.

David Bowers, the council’s appointee to the commission, said a team is being put together “to look at the entire debt situation of the Redevelopment Commission.” He said they’ll devise a plan “and then come back and say, ‘You know, here’s where we are.’ And, look for some guidance.”

Council member Kevin Rider encouraged not only better notice of financing needs but also in development of projects.

“The earlier you get people invested, the more involved people will be,” Rider said. “So, it’s going to be important from a financial standpoint and from a conceptual standpoint to get us involved as early as possible.”

The Carmel Redevelopment Commission has been criticized for a lack of transparency in incurring millions of dollars in debt.

Ron Carter, the one vote against the council’s oversight proposal, said the citizens of Carmel “need to be assured that elected officials such as this body [the council] are spending their money and not by those who are unaccountable to the electorate.” He went on to say “this council has control over how the money is spent by the redevelopment commission.”

At a meeting in March, John Accetturo, a former member of Carmel’s council said the CRC spending raises “a question of insolvency.” So, he encouraged the current members of the council to “curb” the CRC “before the financial situation gets worse.”

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard offered a lengthy defense of the commission, also during that meeting in March. “All development’s expensive,” he said. But, “households … aren’t paying for any of our redevelopment efforts at this point. It’s entirely paid with the increase in business taxes in the economic development districts.”

Brainard also said “none of our debt is longer, at this point, than about 20 or 25 years.” It won’t last generation after generation, as he sees it. But, he acknowledges the money does need to be managed carefully.