Continued Borrow and Spend in Carmel
Friday, May 15, 2009

The Libertarian Party has for several years been pointing out the folly of Carmel's mad bonding spree, to pay for everything from pointless road reconstructions, to civic toys that aren't even the proper role of government, such as amusement parks and arts districts.

We have been warning that borrow and spend is merely tomorrow's tax bill. We have been warning that it's been out of control.

Now even the City Council is beginning to notice what was plain in 2003. Carmel spends too much money. From an Indy Star report:

Carmel has pledged so much money to so many projects that a proposal by Mayor Jim Brainard to borrow an additional $28 million ultimately could cost the city $91 million.

Finance professionals say the city will not need to raise taxes to pay off the loan now under consideration by the Finance Committee. But several City Council members wonder whether Carmel has become stretched too thin and lost its fiscal way.

If City Council members are on record at last with this tone, the horse is prbably long out of the barn. Hmm. Maybe a few of us could round up $28 million and loan it to Carmel for $85 million. Just looking out for the taxpayers, unlike some folks.

And a municipal finance expert said such a loan, which is akin to a buy-now-pay-later offer one might receive from a furniture store, is a last resort.

"It says to me that there's a level of desperation for them to even want to go to the market and do a bond like this," said Craig Johnson, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "I guess they just really need the money."

Why the city needs the money troubles some council members, who maintain that a good portion of it would be used to bail out the over-budget and under-funded Performing Arts Center.

And yes, Libertarians predicted that the Arts Center would be over budget. Big surprise.

The sick thing is, Westfield seems bent to outdo desperate Carmel, with an even more desperate, perhaps fiscally suicidal sports palace.

The Libertarian Party is running candidates to compete with the borrow-and-spend Republicans. You have to get behind us if you want to stop this madness.

Labels: borrow and spend, Carmel, Jim Brainard, Mayor Brainard, Westfield