Draft “reorg plan” presented: Live 9-21-09

Afterthoughts: This is being written Tuesday morning. The presentation was not exactly as expected. It was rather short on detail and left a lot of questions unanswered one of the big ones, when will the council vote on the reorganization plan? The council seemed unsure of itself as to when they would be able to put it on the agenda, when they would all be available, several members have trips planned in December, one of the members even asked “When was the latest they could approve the plan and still have it on May 10 ballot?”  Following the meeting Chair Pat Sherman assured me that the plan will be voted on in December.  Editors Note: I previously mentioned that on John Ebert of the WRT board was present, I have since found out that Joe Acker was on vacation and Mark Messick was ill an unable to attend.

This link will take you to a page containing all the documents presented at the meeting.

September 22, 2009: Just prior to 7pm, crowded room, lots of expectations. WRTV-6 News is covering the meeting.

Greenwood is conducting its meeting first. Evidently planning on a long report they decided to get their business out of the way first. Stay tuned for  the draft reorganization plan.

Following the announcement that IndyGo is suspending its service from Greenwood to downtown Indy as of December 1,  Pat Sherman is ready to present.

Reorganization Plan Structure and Contents: First part will be executive summary, then background including history and process. Part 3 will be the Plan of Reorganization, then Exhibits to the Plan such as ordinances and then there will be reference documents.

NOTE: John Ebert is the only WRT board member present which means there is not a quorum of the WRT board. What does that mean? Addendum 9-23-09: Our apologies to the other members of the WRT board who have been actively engaged in this process since the beginning. This was written as we were sitting in the audience watching the procedings. Later we found that Mr. Messick was ill that evening and not able to attend and Mr. Acker was on vacation. We should have gone back and corrected this immediately. We are sorry for any implication of disinterest or willful lack of participation this question may have raised as neither of these apply in any way. Dann Veldkamp

Governance:  Nothing presented that wasn’t reported before. We will provide the consolidated report for each subcommittee once the presentation is complete.

Sherman noted that the Greenwood fire department would come under the control of the council. In the last meeting he stated the reorganization plan would require merger of WRT and Greenwood fire districts and that they fall under the councils budget control. However he has not declared how that can be accomplished. As I understand the law only a referendum can force a merger and move control from the county commissioners to the council. Note that is what I understand, I have not reviewed the law myself. One estimate I received is that if the WRT and Greenwood fire departments merge and come under the control of the council of the “new” Greenwood it would give the council control of an additional $10 million. Again I want to note that is one estimate I received from an elected official, I have not reviewed the budgets of the two departments.

TIF Districts to be created: SR 144, SR 37, I-69, Old Town Greenwood, Old Smith Valley Community. A TIF district declaration will promote development to those areas and provide additional funding from new businesses to run the “new” city.

The financial plan is very complex, not as a result of the reorganization plan it is just the way Indiana law is written.  There are a variety of taxes the state and county currently collect that do not flow to the residents of unincorporated WRT. Incorporation through merger or self-incorporation will result in significant funds, estimated at last Thursday’s meeting, to be a minimum of $2.7 million not including county adjusted gross income tax and property tax revenue. Adding those last two items will greatly increase the revenue to the new community without increasing your taxes. The amount your taxes will increase comes later.

The estimated revenue is based on the 2000 White River Township census and the 2006 special Greenwood census. It is important to note that these figures assume the reorganization will include the areas already annexed by Bargersville that will not take effect until January 2, 2010. The only way to stop that annexation is through a court finding that the annexation is invalid since the reorganization effort began before the annexation. However the Bargersville attorney strongly disagrees with that position and you a can find his thoughts by choosing “Video” from the top menu and looking for the story.

How the tax rates will change, safe to assume that means an increase, at least to all residents of WRT, will be presented at the next meeting. Note too that the benefits of the reorganization plan have not been fully articulated yet.

Next presentation to the council and board will be October 19th and November 16th.  The final plan of reorganization should be presented at that time.

Those are the proposed dates, it appears the council is concerned that they will not have enough time to review the material before the end of December. They are discussing moving approval to January. Doing so would appear to eliminate any chance of stopping the Bargersville annexation of southwest White River Township.  What does this mean? That they are giving up any thought of trying to stop Bargersville? If so why are they presenting financial information that includes southwest WRT?

The Greenwood council is now questioning what happens if they make changes to the plan and then approve the revised plan? Will it have to go back to the reorganization committee? No, the WRT would have to then adopt the revised plan. Whatever one body approves the other must approve an identical reorganization plan before it can be put on the ballot. The final version of the plan must be approved by both bodies a minimum of 60 days before the May 10, 2010 primary.

Ron Deer has asked that council members whom may have potential scheduling conflicts with the possible vote dates to notify him so the council may plan as needed.

That was the end of the presentation however it left more questions than we had at the beginning of the presentation.

No related posts.