Jan. 15--Five Cass County townships would be consolidated under a bill the Indiana House of Representatives is considering.
The bill would require townships with populations under 1,200 to merge with other townships by 2023. Indiana Rep. Cindy Ziemke, R-Batesville, authored the bill and says it would increase government efficiency at the local level.
Township trustees, governed by their boards, provide fire protection services, poor relief and cemetery maintenance.
Five Cass County townships had populations under 1,200 as of July 1, 2016, according to the latest estimates from STATS Indiana.
Clinton Township southwest of Logansport had an estimated population of 942 in 2016. Mike Deitrich, township trustee, opposes the bill. He said the way the township currently operates is efficient, cost effective and with ample fire protection. Deitrich added he's skeptical the proposed legislation would lead to monetary savings.
"I think it's step one of eventually eliminating township governments altogether," he said of the bill.
Deer Creek Township in southern Cass County had an estimated population of 885 in 2016. Steve Carroll, township trustee, said the bill brings up questions for him about how adequate fire protection would be achieved. Merging townships would force residents' representation to be "diluted," he added.
Nancy Webb, president of the United Township Association of Indiana and Henry Township Trustee in Henry County, said she is "completely and totally against" the bill.
"I believe that it's not well thought through," Webb said. "I know that it's going to have a larger impact than they are leading to believe."
It won't just affect townships with populations under 1,200, she said, but also those they merge with.
She echoed Carroll's concerns about fire protection, a service she said townships can provide by having its own or contracting it out. Townships can rely on paid firefighters, volunteers or a combination of both, she continued.
"There are so many variants and every township in the state is unique," she said. "That's the beauty of township government -- it's unique to your community."
Webb fears merging townships will muddle how fire protection is arranged and provided when new boundaries are drawn.
"What's going to happen with these volunteer fire departments that are very well established and very good at what they do?" she said.
Webb also wonders what would happen when townships with two different tax rates merge.
The bill addresses how a township's debt responsibilities would be handled following a consolidation.
"...[A]ny existing debt would only be paid with a levy in the geographic area in which the debt was incurred," according to the Indiana Legislative Services Agency's fiscal impact statement on the bill.
If anything, the issue should be put to voters via a referendum, Webb said.
Indiana Rep. Bill Friend, R-Macy, represents part of Cass and Fulton counties along with most of Miami County. Before joining the Indiana General Assembly, he served as a township trustee.
"I have always been sympathetic to their wishes to remain a viable part of local government," Friend said.
He went on to refer to how the Indiana Township Association supports the bill, leading him to be supportive of it as well, as long as it wouldn't result in reduction of poor relief services that townships provide. The concept of consolidating townships is reasonable after considering the way transportation and communication have improved since the "horse-and-buggy" days when township lines were drawn, Friend said.
After its first reading on Jan. 8, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform, according to the Legislature's website.
Scott L. Miley contributed to this report.
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