Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam and her administration have proposed a $234.8 million budget for 2025, which is 12 percent larger than the previous year’s budget.
Priorities include adding first responders and boosting their compensation, a lease rental bond to fund various infrastructure projects and a new wheel tax and surtax to pay for road improvements.
Finkam, who took office Jan. 1, said one of the biggest proposed jumps from the previous budget is police salaries. In addition to adding eight police officers and four civilian positions to the Carmel Police Department, the city is planning to boost pay.
“The State of Indiana increased the pay significantly for the Indiana State Police and the Hamilton County sheriff increased pay significantly for the sheriff’s department,” Finkam said. “I want to make sure the best and brightest (stay) here, so we’re going to respond accordingly, because we don’t want super-well-trained officers – who care about this community, are highly trained and have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in him or her over a few years – leave the market just for a few bucks down the road.”
Finkam said she is proposing the city implement a $25 surtax on passenger vehicles and a $40 wheel tax for heavier trucks and semis, which would be collected annually by the BMV and distributed by the state back to the city. The taxes are estimated to generate nearly $3.6 million for road improvements. Fifteen other municipalities – including Noblesville and Fishers – have implemented the taxes.
“In talking to state legislators, the message has been clear: Don’t ask us for more money. Use the tools we’ve given you,” Finkam said. “So, when I’ve gone down to them to talk about the budget and property tax and local income tax, the first thing I’m getting asked is, ‘Have you enacted your wheel tax and surcharge?’ So, I think (with) the importance that our community places in our roads and paths, $25 per car is a small investment.”
The proposed $110 million lease rental bond could be used to fund projects that include several roundabouts and related improvements, streetscaping along Carmel Drive and Main Street, Monon Trail bridges over 106th Street and under 111th Street, fire station improvements, Bear Creek park improvements and Monon Greenway upgrades.
Other proposals in the budget include:
- Refinancing nearly $22 million of debt and moving payments out of the general fund
- 41 new police vehicles
- Nearly $3 million to fully fund Carmel Fire Department overtime
- 3-percent cost-of-living adjustment for city employees
- Maintaining the property tax rate at 77.83 cents per $100 of assessed value
The city used a zero-based budgeting approach for all requests other than personnel, meaning department leaders were required to explain and justify every expense rather than using the previous budget as a baseline. Finkam said, as expected, initial budgets presented by department leaders were beyond what the city could afford.
“They all want to do a really good job for the community, so they are going to come in swinging for what they think is important – not all of which could be funded,” Finkam said. “I thought they brought really good budgets and I thought they were very responsible, so that made it easier for us. None of the budgets were full of fluff and none were doing things that were self-serving.”
The budget will be introduced at the Oct. 7 council meeting and could be adopted as early as the Oct. 21 meeting. Members of the public may comment on the budget at both meetings, which begin at 6 p.m. at Carmel City Hall.
See the budget and learn more at carmel.in.gov/government/departments-services/finance/city-budget.
