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Dear Editor:
Monday’s 2023 annual financial report published by Carmel’s redevelopment authority presents a cautionary tale for those Hamilton County cities and towns following Carmel’s lead into its $1.4 billion debt.
The redevelopment authority reported it spent more than it received in all but two of the last six years.
And its $580.6 million unpaid principal debt is more than a third of the $1.4 billion principal and interest owed by the city and authority combined.
The Carmel Redevelopment Authority reported its 2024 debt repayment will total $34 million – nearly as much as the city takes in by way of property taxes, for comparison’s sake.
Since 2018, the redevelopment blight fighters took in $603.6 million but spent $686.6 million, or 19 percent more.
Spending more than you receive and borrowing the difference at ever-higher rates of interest is no way to run a household economy, let alone a city’s.
Bill Shaffer
Carmel