Ponzi [pon-zee] noun A swindle in which a quick return, made up of money from new investors, on an initial investment lures the victim into much bigger risks. Have you ever stopped to think about the real reason behind Carmel mayor Jim Brainard’s quest to maximize the Assessed Valuation (AV) and tax revenue potential […]
Category: Taxes
‘Strong Towns’ Author: Local Governments Bear The Weight of Imprudent Growth
The outlook is not good for the nation’s cities if current trends continue. (Podcast on site) That’s according to Charles Marohn Jr., the author of the new book “Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution To Rebuild American Prosperity.” He’s also the head of Strong Towns, a not-for-profit organization that talks about urban issues. In his book, Marohn writes […]
Economic Development as if Citizens and Small Business actually matters!
Things Carmel could have done other than borrowing $1.36B for E.D. and Developer incentives that should be unnecessary in the “#1 city in Indiana” (it is a real stretch to believe Carmel is or ever was the #1 city in the U.S.). Instead, we chose not to engage with average citizens except via sources like […]
2020’s First City Council Meeting!
On Monday, 01/06/2020, look for the Mayor to be talking dollars and cents ($200M+?) as he has in the first year after every election since 2000. How long will the meeting go? Less than 4 hours would be an improvement over 2016. He knows only a few are paying attention and he is emboldened by […]
Sophia Square seems to be in a death spiral.
Sophia Square: is a smooth landing possible? A “death spiral” is a situation that keeps getting worse and that is likely to end badly with great harm or damage being caused. Currently, Sophia Square has 24 available units out of a total of 202. This is an occupancy rate 0f 88.1% or a vacancy rate […]
Maintenance is Carmel’s Achilles Heel. It is an obvious issue at Sophia Square.
With the elimination of the Clerk-Treasurers office Mayor Brainard has closed the door on any oversight. What we think is important is not as relevant as the actual tenant’s own comments. Here is a sampling: https://www.apartments.com/sophia-square-carmel-in/dxkz8qj/#reviewsSection So why do the tenants complain? Could we find indications of deferred maintenance from a quick […]
Sophia Square – The Promotional Plans
So what is the reality today at Sophia Square on Main Street? Next: We will explore this much-ballyhooed project less than 10 years after this high standard was set in Carmel Citizens expectations.
PART 2: Just how does Carmel keep tax rates low while spending more and more each year?
In Part 1, we described the delicate balance of municipal government finance – revenues, expenses and the tax base. We also discussed how any increase or decrease in one requires an offsetting increase or decrease in the others to keep thing in balance. Since first elected as mayor of Carmel in 1995 – nearly […]
PART 1: Just how does Carmel keep tax rates low while spending more and more each year?
A major talking point of Carmel mayor Jim Brainard and those councilors aligned within him on the City Council is how Carmel’s taxes have remained low, even as the city and demand for its services have both grown substantially. Even as they make this claim, the city budget — and spending — grows year after […]
How Carmel’s elected incumbents can claim the lowest tax rate in the county, yet you end up paying more and more to the city each year
“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.” – Robert Heinlein As Carmel property owners across the city opened their 2019 property tax bills, they discovered sizable increases over amounts owed in 2018. With the […]