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Committee begins targeted city-code review to reflect second-class city status
Summary
Members discussed a chapter-by-chapter or targeted approach to updating Carmel’s city code to reflect changes from new municipal status and modern practices; corporation counsel recommended a phased review and highlighted recodification as an option.
CARMEL, Ind. — In the latter portion of the March 11 meeting the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee discussed a review of the Carmel City Code to bring language and references up to date for the city’s second-class status and current operations.
Corporation Counsel Benjamin Leggs advised the committee that council could pursue either a chapter-by-chapter update or a full recodification, the latter being a larger, more time‑consuming rewrite that can nonetheless provide an opportunity for systematic cleanup. Leggs said city code has been amended repeatedly and that a recodification — reformatting and reenacting the code as a single coordinated package — is a “mammoth task” but is done periodically.
Committee members favored a targeted, phased approach focused initially on statutory references and items that conflict with current operations (examples discussed: controller vs. clerk-treasurer language, personnel matters embedded in code that might better sit in city policy). Councilors asked corporation counsel and administration to prioritize corrections tied to the second-class city transition and to produce targeted recommendations for committee review. The committee also identified specific housekeeping items to check, such as an apparent reference to a Hamilton County EMS tax in the ordinance language that staff said they would investigate further.
No ordinance or recodification vote was taken. Committee members agreed that legal staff and department heads would submit proposed corrections and recommended policy transfers (code provisions better handled as departmental policy) for phased review by the committee.
