IS IT TRUE September 10, 2012
IS IT TRUE the City of Carmel, Indiana an upscale suburb of Indianapolis that recently had the distinction of being called the “Best Place in America†to live has itself in a tight spot financially?…it is actually more than a tight spot, it is a situation called unsustainable by financial analysts and the City of Carmel will soon run out of money and default on debt is changes their massive debt is not refinanced at a lower interest rate?…the way that this seemingly prosperous city that is home to the entrepreneurs and movers and shakers of the Indianapolis area got into a default position should sound familiar and surprise no one?…what happened is that Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard and his hand-picked appointees in the Carmel Redevelopment Commission used loopholes in Indiana law to borrow roughly $260 Million to go on a binge building beautiful temples to art and excessive living without even asking the Carmel City Council to approve the funding?…Brainard and his cronies on the CRC must have been borrowing from The Bank of Guido as their interest rates are around 8%?…that now Brainard and his cronies way out is to get the Carmel City Council to issue general obligation bonds to refinance their building binge debt at lower interest rates?…the people of Carmel and their City Council will probably have to give in because the alternative is to become the Stockton of the Midwest?…without a change in Indiana law Brainard and his pals on the CRC could then turn around and start another binge by borrowing hard money from Guido?…You can read more details about the travails of Indiana’s richest city per capita on the following link?
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201209081517/NEWS/209090333&nclick_check=1
IS IT TRUE that in another article in the Indianapolis Star the details of just how Mayor Brainard and his select members of the Carmel Redevelopment Commission used loopholes in Indiana Law to use third parties and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to build things without asking the City Council or the people of Carmel via a referendum?…Mayor Brainard of course sought legal council to get favorable opinions prior to embarking on this SNEGAL ambition?…that even with expensive favorable opinions from elite Indianapolis law firms that are as familiar as the names of relatives in the Evansville Civic Center and among local elected officials that this borrowing activity is still under the scrutiny of the Indiana State Board of Accounts?…you can read all about this SNEGAL scheme on the following link?
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120908/NEWS/209090334
IS IT TRUE that all of this coming from Carmel makes us wonder if Evansville is sitting on a debt bomb that could easily reach a tipping point that forces the “tax increase or default†scenario to unfold on the banks of the Ohio?…the dragging out of the budgets of the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County are clear signals of caution which can be a good thing?…the words from Civic Center moles regarding what the forthcoming Indiana State Board of Accounts report will contain about the financial activities of the City of Evansville also will invite comparisons to financially embattled cities?
IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County officeholders got a directive Friday from the Vanderburgh County Auditor to fill out transfer documents or documents seeking an appropriation to supplement fourth quarter PERF payments to the State of Indiana?…this request was supposedly made because of an apparent failure to communicate?…since there is no surplus to transfer in most departments, one must assume the majority of department heads will be seeking additional appropriations to cover employee retirement funding.
