Shaffer concerned Carmel’s borrowing will harm future generations

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Dear Editor:

As Carmel central planners continue lavishing borrowed funds on entertainment and luxuries, the power to borrow more money shrinks.

Unwilling to go to the regulated and rated municipal bond market since its rating was downgraded in 2017, Camel borrows against the future at higher interest rates and encounters greater resistance from bankers and the private equity market. Hotel Carmichael financing took more than two years to lock in, and then at high interest rates.

Now comes word of $73.3 million need to significantly upgrade water and sewer services. High-density projects strain pumping and delivery systems – $50.5 million for the water system and $22.8 million for sewers.

Meanwhile, the city promotes and subsidizes unsustainable music, theater and other entertainments, and runs multi-million-dollar deficits, further digging a hole future generations presumably will fill with dollars.

Bill Shaffer

Carmel