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Dear Editor:
This is a response to the Letter to the Editor titled, “Cicero reader calls for total overhaul of township government.”
The Indiana Township Association (ITA) is a nonprofit organization that works to support township government officials through education and advocacy. In 2021, ITA took an introspective look at what Mr. Williams is referring to as an outdated form of government. We created a task force which was discussed in the article that is being referred to which developed policy recommendations and gathered data. The task force was made up of ITA officials, state legislators, state agency representatives, and a variety of other stakeholders with the purpose of using the results of the study to WORK TOGETHER to enact many of the associated recommendations to ensure the needs of Hoosiers continue to be met.
Mr. Williams discussed some areas of township government that could be transferred to counties or cities.
First, Mr. William’s discussed that there are 1,008 township governments in the State of Indiana; however, through merger efforts there are 1,002 townships providing services. The services that he mentioned consolidating were administrative costs, fire services, and cemeteries. These are all great points that show why township government is today still a great form of government.
Elected official salaries differ based on population; however, over 75 percent of township trustees make less than $19,999 per year. In the ITA’s opinion, this is a value to the taxpayer. These are also officials who, in many cases, are not taking retirement benefits, health benefits, or additional employee benefits.
When it comes to discussing cemeteries, the statement was made that not all or a large number of abandoned cemeteries are maintained at the township level. Through our study, we concurred that with pioneer cemeteries alone, in 2022, that there are 1,718 cemeteries currently being maintained by townships. That is an average of 3.3 cemeteries per township in our population levels. Many townships are utilizing their township general funds to assist with their duties on cemetery protection.
When a county cemetery board is overseeing a cemetery, they have the ability to tax additionally for this purpose. These are also not elected officials who are stewarding these taxes, unlike the trustee. Additionally, failure to perform the duties of cemetery care do come with the ability to be charged with a misdemeanor for a trustee. We have not heard of a trustee being charged with failure to perform this duty.
With fire protection, the Indiana Volunteer Firefighters Association completed a study in 2020. It is stated that fire protection is an example of an ineffective and antiquated use of tax dollars.
In the study completed, the area that Hamilton County resides would have an increase of 39.4 percent in property tax levy without volunteer departments. The average statewide tax increase would be 57.9 percent. In Noblesville Township, Hamilton County, the additional cost to fire protection would be $8,655,454. That would be a 10.98 percent increase in taxes for the taxpayer.
In the state, some large townships with a low tax base or small levy might require a 500 to 600 percent tax increase to support operations. When you look at township balances, many have cash balances in fire protection. This is to support the operations that we are discussing here that ultimately are keeping taxpayers from this exact scenario locally.
We have to get past the discussion of a full elimination of township government. It is not in the best interest of the taxpayer. The ITA is educating and promoting voluntary mergers where it makes sense. Additionally, we have supported House Bill 1355, which promotes a merger pilot program. This is the second arm of our study to be able to garner data that would show the effectiveness and efficiency of mergers.
Ultimately, our goal is to safeguard the taxpayer from having the burden of supporting taxes beyond what they already are, especially in a time when the legislature is discussing property tax relief. We have to move in a direction that is based on data, not trying to just make decisions based on emotion that come with true consequences – to you, the taxpayer.
In Good Governance,
Debbie Driskell
ITA Executive Director & Proud Trustee