Meaty meeting adds merger details

Each of the reorganization effort’s sub-committees provided an update at this evening’s bimonthly meeting. It was clear that the groups are laying the groundwork needed to provide the recommendations to the Greenwood Common Council and the White River Township Board in late July.

Infrastructure
The report focused on the number of miles of roads in Greenwood and White River Township (WRT), the condition of the roads and the annual cost of maintenance per mile. Greenwood spends a reported $9,900/mi/yr on their 181 miles of roads. As a comparison, the county spends $9,100/mi/yr on the 175 miles of roads in unincorporated WRT. Using an advanced system the county also records the conditions of each road, with 1 being in need of rehabilitation to 10 indicating the best condition. Of the 113 named “grid” roads in WRT 26% are rated 8-10, 46% are rated 5-7, and 24% rate 1-4. As for the 614 named roads in the sub-divisions, 33% rate 8-10, 53% are in the 5-7 range, and only 7% are rated 1-4.

Health and Safety
Discussions with the Greenwood Chief of Police resulted in a suggestion that 15 officers be assigned to the WRT area, five per shift. Each officer would cost about $100,000 per year, increasing the departments budget from about $5-million/year to $6.5-million. Currently the Johnson County Sheriff covers the same are with 21 deputies, seven per shift. No cost figures were provided. The committee is attempting to compile the number of police calls produced by the the unincorporated area.

Governance
The Governance Committee is suggesting a second-class city with an 11 member city council. During the period between the assumed approval of the new city and the first municipal election, the council would include the current council members augmented by the WRT Board and Trustee. During this period any vote by the council would require eight votes to pass. Furthermore, they are recommending and elected clerk and and appointed comptroller. While still open for discussion, they expect to recommend the formation of a five-member Fire Merit Board, mirroring the current Police Merit Board.

The Governance group also plans to make the unusual, but commendable recommendation that the formation of council districts be taken out of the hands of the legislators, that is the council. Rather the lines will be drawn by a non-political Redistricting Committee. They would operate under a set of guidelines, such as requiring all districts have essentially the same number of residents, which is also the current law. This has already been done in Iowa and California.

Parks and Recreation
The Parks and Recreation team did not have as much to report this time. They did recommend that the Park Board be increased from four to eight members and suggested that, as allowed by law, a representative from each of the three school districts included in  the consolidated city would be members of this board. They expect to shift their focus over the next weeks from looking at green-space and facilities to programs.

Finance
Arguably, the Finance Committee has the most difficult job. Not only does their report hit everyone where it counts, in the pocketbook, but the factors upon which their projections are based, such as assessed property values, the number of cars in an area, how many cigarettes are purchased, etc. are changing all the time. Their goal is to develop a model that takes all of these factors into account, yet can be explained and defended to the public. They are taking great care to “get it right the first time.” One additional feature of their report will be a three year retrospective on taxes: what went out and what came back. Many do not realize that much of the tax revenue collected from WRT does not return to the township, but rather goes to the county. They in turn can spend it anywhere they choose. It would be a very unusual year that county would spend even 75% of the taxes paid by the citizens in WRT in to benefit the township, such as improving roads or facilities. If the area becomes incorporated, this would shift dramatically. Many of the tax dollars from WRT that now go to the county, would be returned to the city, providing a significant revenue base for further improvements in the area, such as addressing the on-going drainage problems in the Smith Valley area. As with the other committees, they will complete their work before the preliminary report is due to be presented.

Land Use
There were no significant items to report from the Land Use Committee. They will be meeting with the Governance Committee within the next couple of weeks.

The last few months the full meeting of the Reorganization Committee has been uneventful and very thin on details. Tonight’s meeting provided a much richer insight into the proposed future of the reorganized area, and how hard the committees have been working over the last five months.

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