The Carmel Christkindlmarkt saw an increase in revenue in 2025 and made a profit last year, market leadership told the Carmel City Council in a presentation June 15.
Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc., the nonprofit that operates the market, collected a little more than $3 million in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year. The 2025 market alone generated more than $2 million in revenue. After $2.5 million in expenses, the organization will put the surplus $620,000 towards the 2026 market.
The positive report came as an outside law firm continues an investigation into former board members of the market and their use of taxpayer dollars. In 2025, the organization reported a loss for the 2024 fiscal year for the first time in its history after the city cut spending and Christkindlmarkt increased staffing.
At a meeting of the Carmel City Council on June 15, CEO of Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. Jason Adamowicz touted the market’s local economic impact through vendor and hotel revenue although neither figure into the organization’s fiscal calculation.
In 2025, vendors saw more than $8 million in revenue, the report said. Adamowicz estimated that one in six visitors stayed at a hotel to visit the market.
Despite the financial gains, Christkindlmarkt last year saw a slight dip in visitors, down by 5,000 from 302,000 in 2024.
Adamowicz characterized the decline as an attendance “stabilization” rather than a reason for concern.
Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc.’s financial status and management is in the spotlight this year as an investigation into its board wraps up.
At the June 15 council meeting, Adamowicz, who was appointed CEO in February, said the organization has been focused on planning for longterm stability. That includes building a contingency fund to handle revenue loss from bad weather.
“[It’s] not a rainy-day fund, it’s a snowy day fund,” Adamowicz said.
Overall, Adamowicz reassured the gathering, the market is financially resilient, in part because of city and community support.
The market reaches an audience far beyond Carmel; it appeared on the Today Show in 2025 and was selected as the #1 holiday market nationally for the fifth year in a row by USA Today.
It is not unreasonable for the city to contribute financially to the market in return for local economic development, said councilor Adam Aasen. Aasen cautioned the public not to expect the city to end funding for the market.
“If we’re bringing in lots of people spending money in our hotels, shops, and restaurants, I would say it seems like the biggest challenge that you have facing forward is everybody wants to go to the market and there are long lines,” Aasen said.
A timeline of the controversy
How much the market should depend on the city’s support, and if they are doing so responsibly, has been a matter of debate for Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam and some councilors. Finkam, elected in 2023 on a campaign of fiscal discipline, accused the Christkindlmarkt of financial irresponsibility the following year.
At the time, Carmel had contributed $8 million to operations since the market was founded in 2017. Former board members said the market needed more time to build its reserves before reimbursing the city.
In the fall of 2024, the city dismissed two former board members of Carmel Christkindlmarkt, Inc., the nonprofit running the holiday market. Shortly after, then-board Chair Susan McDermott resigned, saying new board members had pushed her out. On the day McDermott resigned, board members approved a new operating agreement that Finkam said would ensure the market would be held accountable for the taxpayer money it spent.
After Finkam’s election, the city stopped covering the market’s trash pickup and other costs, totaling about $285,000. The city still contributed about $775,000.
However, in 2024, the market operated at a financial loss for the first time in its history despite a 10% increase in revenue. Part of that loss was due to adding six full-time employees, which contributed to a $1.5 million expense increase for “organizational infrastructure and growth,” according to financial reports. In prior years, the city’s average contribution was $1.1 million, according to Zac Jackson, Carmel’s Chief Financial Officer and controller.
The city and the former nonprofit board members accused each other of withholding financial information. The city owns Christkindlmarkt, which includes all trademarks, vendor lists and affiliated events.
Finkam said in 2024 that the city must retain ownership of the market to protect taxpayers.
“Our initial agreement was not adequate to address the complexities of a market this size,” she said in an IndyStar article that year. “When it started it was a tiny, tiny dream that has grown into something beautiful. Now this is a behemoth of a market, and we have lots of taxpayer dollars at risk here.”
What’s next for the investigation?
Dentons Bingham Greenebaum LLP, the world’s largest global law firm according to its website, is tasked with the investigation, with fees capped at $125,000. The scope of the investigation will include, but not be limited to, the “executive branch and any of its employees, contractors, or agents, prior and current relationships and interactions with Carmel Christkindlmarkt, Inc., including but not necessarily limited to any of its related employees, contractors, and agents.”
Councilor Tony Green said at a June 1 council meeting the final report would be coming soon. There was no update as of the June 15 meeting, according to the council.
Lucy Tobier is the politics reporting intern for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at ltobier@gannett.com or on X at @TobierLucy
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Carmel Christkindlmarkt reports revenue surplus amidst ongoing investigation
Reporting by Lucy Tobier, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Lucy Tobier, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
