By Adam Aasen
The Carmel Redevelopment Commission has finally released its 2015 budget.
The overall city budget was passed more than two weeks ago and the CRC did present its budget to the Carmel City Council for review or approval.
CRC Executive Director Corrie Meyer asserted – backed up by state law – that the commission did not require council approval and would share her budget when it was ready.
On Nov. 18, Meyer released a budget that painted a rosy outlook for the CRC’s near future. One major boost to CRC’s revenues is a settlement in a lawsuit regarding The Palladium roof.
The CRC was suing Michigan-based Steel Supply & Engineering Co. because the commission claimed that roof defects puts delays on construction because there were fears of a structural collapse. The delays cost the city money and others were named in the lawsuit, which was originally set to go to trial in 2015.
An exact amount wasn’t disclosed and the terms might be revealed at the CRC board meeting on Nov. 19.
This is on top of the Palladium’s engineering firm agreeing to pay $800,000 to avoid any future legal claims.
The CRC’s budget was also boosted by the $2.1 million sale of the former Shapiro’s building to Pedcor, about half of which was paid for in cash.
In all, the CRC expects to end 2014 with $1.7 million in the bank and end 2015 with about half a million in the bank, after all expenses and obligations are paid.
This is a much better outlook than originally anticipated. In May, the CRC held a meeting to discuss its mid-year budget update, where projections were adjusted and projects were anticipated to be “scaled back” because some revenue wasn’t as much as expected. At that point, it was only projected that the CRC would end the year with about $48,000 in the bank and much was riding on sale of property and settlement of lawsuits.
“We worked really hard with our expenditures,” Meyer said. “We try to maintain a conservative approach with no burden on the tax payer.”
In 2015, Meyer expects to still remain conservative. Some projects might be suspended or delayed due to costs, such as dome steel repairs to The Palladium, a courtyard in Sophia Square and landscaping for The Palladium.
Tax increment finance revenue is projected to be $18,029,910 in 2015 with total debt service at $18,11,813, leaving a hole of $81,903. That will be made up through the CRC’s ending balance from 2014 and other revenue the CRC receives, such as payments from Civic Theater, energy center payments and grants from the Carmel City Center Community Development Corporation (4CDC). It is expected that all other sources of revenue – besides TIF – to total $1,298,598 for 2015.
Total expenditures for 2015, besides debt service, are projected to be $572,372 for TIF related costs – accounting fees and what not – and $1,873,862 for non-TIF expenditures, such as operating expenses and maintenance of the Sophia Square parking garage.
Meyer said at the meeting the annual costs to maintain the Sophia Square parking garage – around $300,000 a year – is something she would like to revisit to try to work a better deal.
