CARMEL, Ind. — The Carmel City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a resolution that will form a committee to review the city's ties to two nonprofits and two community development corporations.
It includes Christkindlmarkt and Promote Carmel Inc.
Council member Jeff Worrell said he believes it's is the right way to go.
"I support Mayor (Sue) Finkam's efforts to know what we are paying for and get it documented," he said. "My understanding is there were efforts to try and create a plan where the market would start to reimburse the city for some of those in-kind services, and I think that's healthy."
The committee will be jointly staffed by the city council and the executive branch. Selected councilors will sit on the board with the mayor and two of her appointees.
Finkam said this is her way of keeping her transparency promises to taxpayers by allowing them to see where the money goes.
"The Carmel Christkindlmarkt has had a roughly $1 (million) to 1.5 million subsidy from the city of Carmel over the past several years. We estimate $9 million since 2017. It involves our time for street department and fire. It also involves other contracts we put into place as a result. It's an investment in economic development and tourism," said Finkam.
Finkam said city leaders want to see if those organizations can be more self-sustaining. Worrell believes the new committee will get those answers.
"We should look at everything. What is the cost to the citizens of Carmel? What's the benefit? What's the economic factor we know happens when we have those large crowds?" said Worrell.
Christkindlmarkt opens Nov. 23 and continues through Dec. 24. The board says Monday's vote will not impact the market this season.
The committee will meet for the first time in February.