08-07-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Carmel spent $1.2M to support Christkindlmarkt, JazzFest, other events in 2024
The City of Carmel spent over $1 million supporting events run by partner organizations last year.
The figures, in terms of in-kind support from Carmel's streets, fire or police departments, were released at an Affiliate Review Committee meeting on July 2. The committee, created by a city council ordinance last year and tasked with reviewing finances and operations of the city's nonprofit affiliates, is wrapping up its work.
City councilor and chair of the committee Ryan Locke has been tasked with compiling recommendations that may be implemented by the mayor's office or via ordinances and resolutions voted on by city councilors.
'We got into this because a few things were set up that started to get a little wild and were used for purposes that were outside of their scope,' Locke said. 'There wasn't transparency and there wasn't an understanding of what needed to happen.'
During what might have been the committee's final meeting last week, Samantha Karn, corporation counsel for the city, emphasized the need for a consistent process in determining which events are supported by the city and how much support is lent.
Over several meetings, the Affiliate Review Committee drilled into the finances of the Carmel Christkindlmarkt. The market received the bulk of in-kind support from the city last year when compared to other events.
Previous coverage: Carmel Christkindlmarkt CEO 'excluded from key decisions,' resignation letter says
The committee also previously dug into Promote Carmel, which was a nonprofit corporation financially propped up by the city, best known for supporting the now defunct All Things Carmel store on Main Street. At a March meeting, the committee learned some of those dollars from Promote Carmel were being used to pay for expenses unrelated to the store, such as alcohol and food, including at the former mayor's Christmas dinner.
'We do need to put processes in place in determining who receives support, whether in-kind or monetary, as well as how much support they receive,' Karn said.
It's not yet clear yet what the city's new process will be for reviewing which events receive support or when all of the recommendations from the Affiliate Review Committee will be finalized and released.
The following graphic shows how much Carmel spent supporting events run by partner organizations last year. The numbers do not include city-run events, such as the Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony and the Memorial Day Ceremony.
The support from the city for these events was in-kind. The costs include set-up or tear-down operations from the city's streets department or public safety coverage from the city's police and fire departments.
