Letters to the Editor do not reflect the opinions of The Reporter, its publisher or its staff. You can submit your own Letter to the Editor by email to News@ReadTheReporter.com.
* * *
An open letter to the Carmel City Council . . .
Dear Editor:
At the Carmel City Council meeting on Monday, the taxpayers of Carmel respectfully requested that the Council provide a clear, succinct and transparent response to a simple request: “Where are the buildings that developer Pedcor ‘guaranteed’ but which are not constructed?”
In 2015, the Carmel City Council awarded $20 million in taxpayer debt to the developer Pedcor based on Pedcor’s “guarantee” to build a series of new buildings between 2015 and 2019. The City Council was quoted as saying that the taxpayers were “completely protected,” because of those developer ‘guarantees.’ The aerial photo below shows that buildings that were ‘guaranteed’ to begin construction in 2015 do not exist. Buildings that do not exist do not generate TIF.
The table itemizes the buildings which Pedcor ‘guaranteed’ to be constructed, the square footage alleged to be ‘guaranteed’ for each building, and the construction schedule commitment which Pedcor made, as reported by the CRC.
Since buildings that do not exist do not pay property taxes, it would appear that Carmel taxpayers are left unprotected in repaying the $20 million debt.
So, we respectfully ask the Carmel Council to provide documents showing what action the City Council has taken to enforce the ‘guarantees’ which the Council alleged were protecting the taxpayers.
Most sincerely,
Mike Shaver
Carmel
Graphic provided
Graphic provided