(Photo by Adam Aasen)
Since the primary elections in May, a political divide has taken shape over how to spend taxpayer money.
Mayor Jim Brainard would like to see a City Council that supports his vision for Carmel’s redevelopment. In his mind, that means using tax increment finance money to repay bonds to develop areas such as the Carmel City Center and the Midtown plan.
But others, such as City Councilor Rick Sharp is considering a run for mayor, say the spending would be better spent on city infrastructure. He’s accused Brainard and others of “playing a shell game” with the city’s budget, moving around funds and slashing the road funds.
“I think it’s going to be a burning issue on every level – not just mayoral – and council candidates that fail to recognize and own up to the reality of our infrastructure are going to be under serious examination,” he said.
Sharp has gone on local radio to speak about how he feels there’s a lack of transparency involving the Brainard administration and the Carmel Redevelopment Commission.
Brainard said he’s fed up with the misinformation. He said Carmel lost millions due to the recession and that led to some cuts, but he believes infrastructure has never suffered. He said it’s become politicized.
“I’m tired of certain council members trying to blame the recession on our administration,” he said.
City Councilor Sue Finkam felt so strongly to support Brainard’s plan that she penned an op-ed in the Indianapolis Star. She said people keep quoting that there will be massive shortfalls in TIF, but she said that’s just twisting the numbers to suit their agenda.
“My main concern is that these assumptions from the accounting report is that there will be no increase in TIF development or no increase in assessed value,” she said. “They do that to be conservative and I think you have to really have to take that into consideration. Over a 20-year period, it’s unlikely that you wouldn’t see growth.”
City Councilor Eric Seidensticker said he would like to be prudent with spending because otherwise you build beautiful structures – such as the reflecting pool – but you have no money for upkeep.
“When you ignore these things, they reach a critical mass,” he said. “We talk about building these beautiful structures but what about the maintenance of these buildings.”
Seidentsticker’s election opponent, Bruce Kimball, said he doesn’t think, “Carmel is ‘crumbling’ as is claimed by some.”
“It’s not a black or white issue where we spend on development or we spend on infrastructure, we actually spend on both of them,” he said. “It’s that juggling that has made our city what it is today.”
Sharp said he’s still worried. That’s why he sent out a campaign letter where he states: “I believe our city faces dangers on the horizon for which we are not currently prepared.”
