Citizen says: Incorporation is possible
Reorganization is one option, but self-incorporation of White River Township is a realistic possibility
As we’ve said many times before, the primary purpose of this web site is to encourage conversation among those interested in the future of unincorporated White River Township. While mostly we’ve covered and commented on “news” events of governmental bodies, today we feature Ryan Rhoten who discusses why incorporation is much more feasible than many, including Mr. Acker, have thought. We look forward you your response to what Mr. Rhoten has to say.
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With all of the talk and articles being written about the re-organization of Greenwood and White River Township (WRT), it is very easy to forget that there is another option as well, self-incorporation. As a reader of this website, you may have read Mr. Acker’s letter. While I respect his opinion on self-incorporation, I believe it is necessary to clear up a few misconceptions, especially the comments regarding the process the proposal must “pass” though in order to be approved. Indiana Code IC 36-5, Government of Towns, very clearly lays out not only the steps that must be taken by the citizenry to become a city, but also who and which governing bodies the petition must pass through before approval.
Self-incorporation (think Center Grove, Indiana) begins once a petition is filed in quadruplicate with the county executive. This petition must be signed by a minimum of 50 owners of land within the territory being sought for incorporation. While a minimum of 50 is all that is required, in reality we would want the support of a large portion of citizens to show unification and resolve. The county executive reviews the petition to ensure all of the requirements of the code have been satisfied. When the review is complete, the county executive will forward one of the copies of the petition to the county planning commission. It is this commission that will make a recommendation for approval or disapproval.
A public hearing will be scheduled by the county executive in order to review the planning commission’s recommendations and to hear from the citizens. If the planning commission recommends approval and the public hearing is acceptable to self-incorporation, then the county executive must obtain consent from the legislative bodies (e.g. city councils) within 3 miles of the proposed new city. Should approval be given by the surrounding cities and towns, then the county executive may approve the petition. Approval is not determined by the state legislature or the governor. This is the people’s process and it is uniquely American.
Mr. Acker pointed out the push for self-incorporation must come from the citizenry of WRT, which is true. However his statement that “it is not feasible” is strictly his opinion. While I agree there would be initial challenges from a revenue standpoint, I believe that if self-incorporation is truly what the citizenry want, we can find innovative ways to overcome this challenge.
It is correct that we have very little industry/business within unincorporated WRT. We can thank Greenwood for that. They have annexed essentially all of the industry/business that currently exists within the boundaries of our township. As a result, we are left with mostly residential tax base. Based on this, how can we support the assumed 100 employees, housing of facilities and equipment, oh, and the purchase of the equipment itself? Simple, we don’t buy the equipment or hire that many employees.
Mr. Acker’s statement that we would need numerous employees and equipment is reflective of the typical, antiquated, and most common view people have of government. This formula, by the way, essentially guarantees that your taxes will need to rise in future years. The question should be: can we run the city of Center Grove, Indiana with ten employees or less? We do need government officials to run a city and enter into contracts, but we do not need excess government.
A new city would allow us to contract with private companies and establish performance and quality standards. For example, any reported pot holes must be repaired within 48 hours. Private contracts mean that you do not need to buy, maintain or store the equipment and you do not need to hire people to perform the work needed. What about snow removal? What if we divided Center Grove, Indiana into equal portions and put bids out for snow removal? Again, we could hire and support local businesses that contractually would be held to pre-defined standards for both performance and quality. We could do the same with landscaping for the parks. We need to take a non-traditional approach to traditional government.
Don’t give up on self-incorporation just yet. Yes, the re-organization is underway, but there are no guarantees. Mr. Acker points out a lot of benefits of a combined Greenwood and WRT. But if you read them closely, you will see your tax dollars leaving your wallets because we all know what traditional government looks like. We have a chance to change that…if we try.
Submitted by Ryan Rhoten, February 16, 2009
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Here are some useful links if you want to learn more about the concepts discussed above (they are also available on our “Resources” page):
Indiana Code IC 36-5, Government of Towns
Public/Private Partnerships for Local Government
Reason Foundation on Sandy Springs, GA using this model
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12 Responses to “Citizen says: Incorporation is possible”
Great points.
I understand that Greenwood serves the existing business/commercial base along SR-135. I think there weren’t too many options as the area grew.
But, there is a chunk of concrete just to the west called SR-37 or I-69 or whatever is correct this month. Early planning for use and access could be a benefit worth it’s weight in….well, future taxes.
And, some in the county still sing from the songbook about an east-west corridor. Having an influence on where and how that is plotted could certainly affect future revenues as well.
To all who think that self governance is a futile effort, take a clue from this Mr. Rhoten’s optimism. Unfortunately, the sound of information coming from the Reorg Committee seems to indicate they are not going to study but to build a plan for moving from there to there with associated costs and no other consideration will be given.
I’m still scratching my head over that posture.
Comment made on February 16th, 2009 at 11:08 pmThanks for your comments Mike. You are correct to point out 37. Right now at the corner of Fairview and 37 this is a “future site of St. Vincent Hospital sign”. Once the hospital is built think about the supporting businesses that will need to go up around it. It’s the start of a commercial tax base. Also the intersection of 144 and 37 is in our area. We need to start thinking longer term. Status Quo is quickly being ruled out for us by Greenwood. I would rather control our fate than turn it over to others. It is not too late.
Additionally, for those who watch channel 6 news, about three weeks ago there was a very short “blurb” about how Greenwood wants to continue its plans to develop along 37. This development includes building sewers so it can gain access to “millions in federal dollars”. Last I checked 37 is in unincorporated White River Township. Once again they’re going after our money.
Yesterday on the front page of the Daily Journal there are quotes from Greenwood city council member Linda Gibson talking about adding new council members and becoming a second class city, “if we do merge”. Why do Greenwood officials continue to refer to the re-org as a merger? These are two very different processes. The fact that Greenwood city officials continue to refer to the process as a merger (including the mayor by the way) provides us with hints about how Greenwood government is looking at this process.
We have a commercial tax base in unincorporated WRT. We just have to look out a few years to see it. Greenwood already has. Shouldn’t we as citizens do the same.
Comment made on February 17th, 2009 at 7:10 amThe idea of self corporation should be explored. The process is made very clear in Mr. Rhoten’s letter. The process is part of the problem. Three miles from the current Greenwood city limits and three miles from the current Bargersville town limits would not leave much to incorporate.
Have the authors of these letters asked the city council and town council of these political units if they would allow self incorporation closer than three miles?
Mr. Gerrish’s comments about the reorganization committee is an example of one of the problems with the process of preparing and studying a plan for reorganization of White River Township and the City of Greenwood. The news media, websites, and individuals like Mr. Gerrish will jump to conclusion after conclusion without any facts or in this case asking questions of the committee members. Mr. Gerrish do you really believe that the committee was formed to study self incorporation? The committee was charged to study and develop a plan to reorganize two existing political units into one!
Many questions to be asked and answered…I personally had hoped that the process would motivate people to ask those questions and that answers may be received.
I’ll ask the Mayor of Greenwood what he feels about allowing a “new self incorporated” town or city within the three mile buffer zone.
I look forward to watching the work of the reorganizaion committee and the answers they will provide about how White River Township and the City of Greenwood may look if they were to reorganize as one new political unit.
Comment made on February 17th, 2009 at 9:57 amMr. Rhoten is right on point in his article. I have gided the incorporation of five new cities in the past threee years and all are successful All have employed the concept of a Public/Private partnership to great advantage; more efficeient, more responsive , with no long term liabilities for pensions benefits or capital costs.
I appreciate his link to my book: “Public/Private Partnerships for Local Governments” but a more appropriate reference might be my first book: “Creating the New City of Sandy Springs”
Comment made on February 17th, 2009 at 10:53 amOliver Porter
Correction: The sign on Fairview and 37 is for St. Frances hospital not St. Vincent as I mentioned before.
Comment made on February 17th, 2009 at 11:31 amThe idea of incorporating is a great one for WRT. Seems like if other townships have incorporated we could do the same. Of course, cost must be considered but cost to taxpayers will go up considerably if we are in the city of Greenwood. I don’t see an advantage to annexation but do see an advantage to incorporate.
Comment made on February 17th, 2009 at 11:57 amIncorporating Center Grove would have to be a very expensive project and hurt the majority of taxpayers. The already high property taxes is one cause for many residents losing their homes. Hiring out most work and use of equipment would be very expensive with the high cost of labor and hefty profits. Also before long they would use the old foot in the door policy and start hiring more people and buying more equipment. The same as the casino’s had to be on a waterborne boat at the start, ticketing for not using seat belts was only if stopped for a traffic violation and now more funds for Lucas Oil Stadium right after the CIB doubled their salary’s, I can easily see these kinds of things happening here when we start hiring out most things. The reorganizing of WRT and Greenwood would be far less costly since Greenwood already has everything in place and would only need a few additional employees and a little more equipment.
Comment made on February 18th, 2009 at 6:39 pmI respect and admire the effort of a few to begin to look at how to be self-incorporated. As I have been told several times, it should have happened 25 years ago. I look forward to hearing the results of Ryan Rhoten’s study on self-incorporation.
I have also done some research on this subject for White River Township. I may be wrong, but, does the new incorporated area also need permission from Indianapolis? I thought the statute said all surrounding cities.
Comment made on March 6th, 2009 at 9:27 amIf I recall the state law correctly a new community does not have to have the approval of an adjoining entity located in an adjacent county. Neither does the law prohibit an unincorporated area from seeking to join with a community in an adjacent county.
Comment made on March 6th, 2009 at 4:50 pmWith all due respect, Jody, please go to http://www.whiterivercitizensunited.org and see the research/power points from Crowe Horwath representative made at the public presentation about the future choices for the citizens of White River Township. ANY MUNICIPALITY WITHIN 3 MILES OF A PROPOSED SELF-INCORPORATION WILL NEED TO PROVIDE PERMISSION.
Comment made on March 12th, 2009 at 7:14 pmIf we would have done this twenty years ago, the three mile zone would have been much further east.
Comment made on May 8th, 2009 at 11:16 pmIf we don’t act now, it will include I69. As for the “foot in the door” policies, they loose the contract. Remember WE control this government.
Forrest Chambers said:
“The already high property taxes is one cause for many residents losing their homes.”1
Are you suggesting that merging with Greenwood would not raise the property tax of the citizens of White River Township?
Alternatively, are you suggesting that Greenwood runs such a tight ship that there is no way that we could form a municipal government that was more cost effective?
Dann
Comment made on June 17th, 2009 at 9:47 pmLeave a Comment