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Last updated:  September 28, 2009

 

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September 28, 2009   The following information was disseminated to the residents of Home Place recently.

 

Earlier this year we were successful in getting Carmel to agree to a 36-month suspension of their annexation efforts.  Hon. Judge William Hughes signed the stay.  Contrary to Carmel’s claim that they suggested this delay, it was a requirement CCHP insisted on before we would agree to their second request for a temporary postponement.  So, we are very pleased to inform you of the following:

 

TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE:   This past Spring, Carmel's attorney said that he was involved in a case in Muncie and asked to let our case lie dormant until the Muncie case was finished.  The CCHP core committee met and decided to offer Judge Hughes the continuance based on a strict 3-year delay.  Judge Hughes ratified our continuance upon Carmel agreeing to the CCHP term stipulated.

 

WHERE WE STAND NOW:  CCHP and Carmel will file appropriate papers with the court on or before June 1, 2012 at which time the court may set a new procedural schedule.  We are now in the process of fundraising for these forthcoming legal actions. Due to your support, we have kept Carmel out of Home Place.

 

CCHP has appreciated your support and your dedication to keep Home Place free of Carmel.  In simple terms, we have held Carmel at bay for nearly six years now, saving an average of $250/year in tax increases for no apparent gain by being annexed.  Multiply that and we’ve effectively saved around $1,500 per property value of $100,000.  That, friends and neighbors, is a big win.  Keep in mind, also, that the wide array of boondoggle tax-payer funded Carmel projects are not on our shoulders.  It doesn’t take too much investigation to realize these various building projects in Carmel will not meet their revenue expectations and the likely outcome is that those shortfalls will eventually hit Carmel city residents via tax increases.  We should thank our Home Place neighbors and residents that supported this fight for they have protected us from this risk.  If you see a CCHP supporter, give them your thanks.  It is deserved.

 

HOW CAN YOU HELP?      We are asking for monetary donations.   If you would like to help defray expenses, please send a check made payable to CCHP to P.O. Box 11, Carmel, IN  46082-0011.

 

                                                AND/OR

 

If you have suggestions in regard to fundraisers that CCHP could host and you would attend, please let us know at 317-536-2922.

 

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September 29, 2009    A NOTE OF REMEMBRANCE:  We are saddened to announce that Edward Pipkin, an active supporter of CCHP even after leaving our area, recently passed away unexpectedly.  Many may remember Ed for his resolute contributions although some of us on the CCHP committee had a more personal relationship with Ed. Among many things, he was the “Captain of the Kitchen” during our Orchard Park Church fundraisers, in charge of getting the food out while charming the volunteer Home Place cooks.  No question, Ed was quite a character with commitment to Home Place he carried through the end of his life.  We certainly miss him and our hearts go out to Nelly, his ever devoted widow.  May Ed rest in peace.

 

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.