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Last updated: May 20, 2009

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May 20, 2009 The following article appeared in The Indianapolis Star on May 16, 2009

Carmel delaying Home Place fight over annexation

By Chris Sikich

Posted: May 16, 2009

CARMEL, Ind. -- A three-year break in the five-year-oldd battle over the annexation of Home Place will give Carmel time to take over another area, Southwest Clay Township, city leaders say.

Home Place residents see the delay as three more years to raise more money for legal expenses.

Carmel has tried to annex the 1.6-square-mile area around 106th Street and College Avenue since 2004. Home Place has more than 2,200 homes with 5,000 adults.

Absorbing Home Place into Carmel would mean the city gets added tax dollars as it formally extends its services. Home Place opponents say they already have adequate services.

On Friday, the city announced in a news release that Carmel officials and Home Place residents have asked a Hamilton Superior Court judge to delay the annexation case until June 1, 2012.

Bryan Babb, an attorney for the city, said Carmel needs the next three years to begin offering city services to southwest Clay residents. In 2007, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Carmel could annex southwest Clay in 2010 under a deal it made with a majority of the area's residents.

But, after three years, Carmel again will turn its attention to a long-standing plan to incorporate the entire township, with Home Place as the final piece.

Babb said the city should annex Home Place to better plan for the future.

"It's reasonable for anybody to understand. It's difficult and challenging to plan when you have essentially an island in the middle of your town."

Matt Milam, a leader of the Concerned Citizens for Home Place, said residents have spent almost $75,000 in the fight to stay free of Carmel.

He said raising more money during the next three years, to eventually continue the court battle, would be better than paying taxes to Carmel -- money that could be spent on Mayor Jim Brainard's expensive projects such as roundabout interchanges being built on Keystone Parkway or the Performing Arts Center under construction.

"The mayor can't be trusted," Milam said. "He misled the people about (the final price of) the Keystone job. . . . Who knows what other money he might need to finish these projects he hasn't told the people about."

The Indianapolis Star reported Friday that Brainard wants to borrow $28 million to finish various projects, a move that ultimately could cost the city $91 million. The city, though, would not need to raise taxes to pay off that loan, say finance professionals.

Brainard was out of the office Friday and did not respond to a message left on his cell phone.

Home Place's annexation case has wound through the courts since 2005, when Hamilton Superior Court 3 Judge William Hughes determined Carmel couldn't afford the annexation and ruled in favor of Home Place. An appellate court reversed that decision in October 2007, sending the case back to Hughes' court.

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-5545.

September 20, 2008 We have good news and better news for you.  First, this is a brief synopsis of Carmel’s attempt to forcibly annex Home Place:

07/02/04	Carmel initiated a forced annexation of Home Place.  The cost in property tax increases alone would have averaged $200 per year per household.
02/05/05	Home Place residents successfully remonstrated against the forced annexation (by collecting signatures from 73% of the property owners in Home Place - the law requires only 65%).
07/07/05	The case was heard in Superior Court, and Judge William Hughes ruled in our favor, based solely on Carmel’s evidence.  He did not need to consider Home Place’s evidence.
11/23/05	Carmel appealed that decision.
10/17/07	Carmel won the appeal, and the Appellate Court returned the case to Judge Hughes to now consider Home Place’s evidence.
01/12/09	Judge Hughes will hear oral arguments from Home Place and Carmel.

THE GOOD NEWS: By fighting this annexation, the property tax savings to each household in Home Place have averaged $800 since 2004. We have also kept Carmel from gaining the right of eminent domain over Home Place. The Mayor of Carmel has said, on more than one occasion, that Home Place is "blighted" and that he would use the power of eminent domain to force property owners to meet his standards. In fact, Carmel has a long range plan showing businesses where our houses now stand.  They can only achieve this through eminent domain. Finally, by fighting the annexation, we have not had to assume the responsibility for Carmel's out-of-control and ever-growing bond debt.

THE BETTER NEWS: We are now headed toward another milestone. Indiana state law does not allow an annexation to take place during the year before (2009) or the year of (2010) a census. By fighting the annexation all this time, the earliest we could be annexed would be 2011, if we lose. And, it is very possible that the Judge will decide in our favor in January.

Whatever the outcome, Judge Hughes' decision will probably be appealed by the losing party, which could add an additional one to three years before final resolution of this matter. Each year that Home Place is NOT annexed will result in a substantial tax savings to each household.

Unlike the City of Carmel, Home Place does not have taxpayer dollars to wage this fight. All of our expenses have been paid by the people of Home Place, with an average contribution of $100 per year per household.

As we continue this fight, we continue to incur expenses. We need your financial support, so we will not have to pay Carmel's higher property tax rate, we will not have to assume Carmel's growing bond debt, and we will not have Carmel's Mayor and councilmen meddling in our property decisions. Please help.