Carmel City Council is considering $63 million in bonds to fund closing gaps in the city’s multi-use pathway system, infrastructure improvements to Monon Square, improvements to Ditch Road and several new roundabouts in all the city.
On September 19, the board introduced an order to issue Carmel Redevelopment Authority lease bonds and referred the matter to its finance committee for further consideration.
City officials do not expect the bonds to result in an increase in the tax rate, which is 78.77 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Since Carmel’s total assessed value has increased 14% over the past year, the city can fund the bonds through a 5-cent special benefits tax that will leave the total tax rate unchanged, according to Heidi. Amspaugh, financial consultant at Bakery Tilly Municipal Advisors.
“Assessed values and tax rates are inverses of each other, so as CVs go up, tax rates go down,” Amspaugh told the council. “So there’s an opportunity to take advantage of this time and fund projects by levying a debt service tax rate, in this case to keep the city’s total tax rate at the same level as ‘it has been for the past five years.’
Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said a list of priority projects included in the ordinance contains more projects than the bonds will realistically fund.
The mayor’s top priority on the list of projects is to close gaps in the pathway system that can make it difficult to traverse the city as a pedestrian or cyclist. He said Carmel added more than 200 miles of multi-purpose lanes during his tenure, but connecting them seamlessly is a request he often hears.
“Some of these issues we just haven’t addressed yet,” Brainard said.
The projects likely to be financed through the bond, in order of priority, are:
- Completion of various multi-use trails along existing roads to fill gaps in the trail network
- Monon Square Infrastructure Improvements
- Ditch Road Improvements Between 96th and 116th Streets
- Roundabout and related improvements at 116th Street and Hoover Road
- Roundabout and related improvements at 126th Street and River Road
- Roundabout and related improvements at 116th Street and River Road
- Roundabout and related improvements at 106th Street and Hazel Dell Road
- Roundabout and North Connection and related improvements to Carmel Drive and AAA Way
- Roundabout and related improvements at 116th Street and AAA Way
- Roundabout and related improvements to Merchants Square Drive and AAA Way
- Roundabout and related improvements at 141st Street and Shelborne Road
- Roundabout and related improvements along Pennsylvania Street
A finance committee meeting date has not been announced. The full city council will have the final vote on the bonds.
