First look: township townhall meeting

Tonight’s meeting drew an estimated 400 people a good crowd with the auditorium a bit less than a third full or maybe only a quarter full which would be about 300. Either number is about equal to the estimates of the two meetings the Reorganization Committee held last week. Tuesday’s meeting was promoted with nine temporary signs placed around the township by Trustee Jay Marks. We give Mr. Marks credit for realizing that not everyone reads the Daily Journal or even follows our website (if you are reading this you have our appreciation). A copy of the slides referenced in the presentation can be found on the Reorganization Documents page.

The township attorney claims that all of White River Township, including Bargersville, will have an opportunity to vote on the resolution however according to reorg chair Pat Sherman that issue is not yet clear. The law does not speak directly to that issue and the committee has asked for a clarification. Currently it is not clear which ballot that a Greenwood resident who lives in the White River Township area of Greenwood would receive. Would they vote as a resident of Greenwood, or White River Township? The other issue is you live in Bargersville and the results of the reorganization vote will not merge you with Greenwood, or take away any services, including poor relief why would you vote? Time for a judge to decide not an attorney on either side of the issue.

According to the presentation fire protection needs to be dealt with. Greenwood assumes that the Greenwood fire department will serve the entire area if they merge with the White River Township Fire Department. However, since they are independent government entities, they cannot simply take over the area south of Stones Crossing Road is in the Bargersville fire district. The reorganization committee views it differently claiming that a city has the right to have one fire department serve the entire community.

According to the township’s accountant Jeff Peters the reorganization has put out a bunch of information that is pro-going-to-Greenwood, the other side is being presented tonight. In my opinion the reorg committee is supposed to promote the reorganization plan, however they did answer both pro and con questions although they did not allocate enough time to answer all questions.

Reorg says 32% spending increase, but criticizes BV FD for 20% increase. That may be true, but Bargersville is not increasing the area it is providing services. Greenwood is doubling the population with a 32% increase. Why does Bargersville Fire need a 20% increase in funding with no additional coverage area? That question was not answered.

The property tax increase in White River Township related to government services (not school taxes etc that is the largest portion of your taxes) is going to increase 19%. That increase is on just a small portion of your property tax bill (see figures in this presentation) 19% plus storm water utility of $5 per month brings it to 25% take out the Bargersville annexation area and the estimates provided tonight say the increase goes to 27% of a small portion of your overall property tax bill. Note the storm water fee as it is not optional; a lean will be put on your property. Note that the $5 per month storm water fee is just to study what should be done. There is no hint of the final cost of whatever may be spent to address the issues they find. The current fee is just the beginning.

The reorganization claims to create the sixth largest city with the smallest per capita spending. The presentation claims some costs are substantially under estimated, for example a ratio of “less than currently provided by the Johnson County sheriffs’ department.” 168 person-hours per 24hr to 96 person-hours per 24 under Greenwood.

The presentation also stated the current funding is inadequate for the total area. They will need to find funds in other areas such as income tax (local taxes are not currently permitted but are being considered by the state legislature); increased fees for storm water and sewage, or services will not be adequately provided.

“Greenwood would not tax agricultural land but Bargersville residents will have to pay.” Bargersville is offering a 10-year moratorium and many of those areas; however, those areas may be developed by that time and never be taxed as agricultural land. Note: the Bargersville exemption for homes only applies to homes not currently connected to the Bargersville water or sewer system. One question not answered was, once the area in part of Bargersville what stops Bargersville from requiring all homes in the town limits from being forced to connect to the town utilities where provided, which not only increases revenue to the utilities but eliminates the exemption for homes and increase property taxes.

At last week’s meeting, Anita Knowles stated she hopes the county would reduce its taxes since it has less area to server however tonight’s meeting said a tax rate reduction by the county is highly unlikely. They already have more demand for services than they can fund for example they will have a referendum to build a jail on the May ballot.

There was a lot more to tonight’s meeting which we will cover in articles and video in the next few days.

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