CARMEL, Ind. — The Carmel City Council unanimously approved the city’s 2025 spending plan Monday night.
Carmel’s 2025 budget is around $233 million. Councilors unanimously approved an amended version of that spending plan in a 9-0 vote Monday night, with a major focus on public safety.
The Carmel Fire Department will get nearly $47 million while the Carmel Police Department will receive around $37 million.
“Hiring for police and fire is really competitive right now,” said Mayor Sue Finkam. “So we want to make sure we have well-paid officers so we can hire and retain the best of the best.”
Mayor Finkam said police and fire funding will go toward hiring more officers, firefighters, new police cars, overtime costs, restructuring pay and increasing pension.
The 2025 budget also focuses heavily on infrastructure. A little more than $28 million will go toward streets and engineering.
Council also approved a $25 surtax on passenger vehicles and a $40 wheel tax for heavier trucks and semis, which would be collected each year 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.
“That is basically to fund a long-term plan for road maintenance,” Finkam said. “We haven’t had one in place, but we continue to add lane miles and paths. So, this is to make sure we have a long-term view of how to take care of these assets.”
The city took a new approach to forming next year’s budget. In previous years, each department’s funding was based off of prior years. This year, Finkam said every department started from scratch that way the city could assess where the real needs were.
Mayor Finkam and council members said this new strategy helps avoid overspending.
“Our expenses are increasing at a rate greater than our revenues,” described Carmel City Council President Tony Green. “This council, as a co-equal branch of government, is going to be far more aggressive than it has in the past, giving less discretion to the mayor, requiring more oversight, more accountability.”
Finkam said the 2025 spending plan helps establish a baseline for improvements over the next four years.
