Questions that need answers

Monday is the first of two community forums on the planned reorganization of White River Township and Greenwood. The next is Saturday (see the schedule here). Ultimately, voters will have the say, should the Council and Board pass identical versions of the plan. Before we get to that point here are some questions we think the reorganization committee should answer during the forums. Some have been answered before but not in an open forum, others simply still need to be asked. We will have more questions later, and I am sure the public will have many more, but just for starters . . .

1) White River Township is debt free with nearly two year’s worth the budget in the bank, and will soon close on the sale of the bantam football fields, which will add another $250,000 in cash to the township. What happens to the money?

2) How do you respond to Council member Ron Bates’ comments that the plan creates more bureaucracy and inefficiency in the Greenwood government? Read more of Mr. Bates’ comments here.

3) The Plan does not appear to take full advantage of the provision of the law that encourages cooperation between different parts of the government, such as the city and county or the city and the state. Will you please discuss why you did not choose to go down this route, for example for services in White River Township? Specifically the law states:

Applicable Section of the Law

a.       IC 36-1.5-1-7
Actions under other laws not prohibited
Sec. 7. This article does not prohibit the:
(1) reorganization of one (1) or more political subdivisions;
(2) exercise of governmental functions under an interlocal cooperation agreement or a cooperative agreement; or
(3) transfer of responsibilities between offices and officers;
under another law that is not included in this article.
As added by P.L.186-2006, SEC.4.

4) The reorganization plan does not appear to be very innovative. Why is does this seem to be the case? If you disagree, please cite the portions of the plan that you see as innovative?

5) Was every meeting of the reorganization committee held under the Indiana Open Meetings law, if so, where can we find the minutes of all meetings since they the last meeting minutes on the committee’s website are from September 3. When will the rest be available?

Applicable Section of the Law

a.  IC 36-1.5-1-9 Political subdivisions and reorganization committees subject to open door law and public records law

b.  Sec. 9. Political subdivisions and reorganization committees acting under this article are subject to IC 5-14-1.5 (open door law) and IC 5-14-3 (public records law).

5) In the finance section the plan it states, “In order to provide services in the most cost effective manner, the Finance committee is strongly encouraged to seek to provide them to all city departments in a creative and non-traditional manner. In particular, public/private partnerships, where the parties share risk, need to be evaluated.” What specific actions are you taking to support this directive and how will the Finance committee be held accountable for this provision?

6) Many comments have been heard from residents and even elected officials that the plan has gone beyond its scope and started to legislate actions such as “The existing mosquito abatement program in the City of Greenwood shall be extended to the Urban area of the New City.” Do you think that the plan exceeds its scope goes beyond looking at the viability of reorganization and providing a plan to merge the two political units?

7) The financial figures released so far show minimal impact in the finances for the first year of the “new Greenwood”. However, much of the area soon to become part of Bargersville is rich in commercial development potential. When you look five years down the road how to you believe the loss of that area will affect our projected tax situation? Are these figures available? If not, given that they are critical in making an informed decision, when do you expect these figures to be available?

Got a question but cannot attend the Monday meeting? Please submit them as a comment to this article. Also use the “Share This” tool to send this article to friends and neighbors.

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