All Things Carmel cost taxpayers $1.2 million. It never will again.

Findings from a detailed financial and legal review initiated to ensure appropriate use of Carmel taxpayer dollars were discussed at Thursday night’s Affiliate Review Committee meeting.

While the full fiscal and legal review prompted in partnership with Mayor Sue Finkam and the Carmel City Council includes four supporting organizations, Thursday’s meeting focused on the operation of the All Things Carmel retail store and its supporting organization, Promote Carmel, Inc.

The Promote Carmel, Inc. board of directors voted to close All Things Carmel in August 2024, with the city taking steps to wind down and dissolve the legal entity.

The store, which sold Carmel-branded items and products from local vendors, operated at a loss since its inception and would have required an additional subsidy of $100,000 to remain open, prompting Mayor Finkam to call for the need to prioritize important expenditures such as police and fire staffing, as well as road maintenance.

Finkam

“Running a gift store was not an essential City service and subsidizing it did not serve our taxpayers,” Finkam said. “That’s why we took steps to close the store and redirect those taxpayer dollars to public safety and other essential services. I appreciated the City Council’s support on the immediate and decisive actions we pursued to be a better steward of taxpayer resources.”

At Thursday’s meeting, committee members heard findings from the review, including a summary of annual subsidies to the store that exceeded $1.2 million over five years. In addition, the review noted that some use of taxpayer funds and donor-directed funds conflicted with city policies and with laws governing the non-profit status of the supporting organization.

City Councilor Ryan Locke, who leads the Affiliate Review Committee, said he was pleased with the detailed review of the affiliate’s operations, noting that council and the mayor continue to be unified in the efforts to put appropriate controls in place to ensure taxpayer dollars can only be spent on critical, known, and approved city services, initiatives, and partners.

Locke

“We came into office with the intent to protect taxpayers by increasing transparency, oversight and accountability in government operations,” Locke said. “The findings from this review highlight some of the issues that can arise with unchecked executive authority. The work of this committee will help us build the right framework of checks and balances to ensure our government and any of its affiliates will operate in the best interest of our city and our citizens – which is, and should always be, the most important mission.”

As part of the store’s closing, all vendors have been paid and all products returned. The Indiana Secretary of State’s Office approved dissolution of the nonprofit March 27.