County concerns
By ANNA MITCHELL
anna@readthereporter.com
Several county officials have voiced concerns about the cost to taxpayers associated with Sheridan and Adams Township reorganizing into a single governmental unit. The reorganization will effectively end the existence of Adams Township, making Sheridan the size of the current township.
There are potential problems with the reorganization plan as it stands.
One problem is that Hamilton County officials are saying Sheridan’s cost estimates for providing road maintenance and police services for all of Adams Township are far higher than Sheridan is estimating.
Another problem is that the reorganization plan and public statements by the reorganization committee indicate ‘new Sheridan’ hopes to enter into an interlocal agreement with the county to pay for road maintenance and police protection.
County Commissioners told The Reporter they will not enter into an interlocal agreement with a reorganized Sheridan, in large part due to a lack of communication. Thus, the people of new Sheridan will end up paying for their roads and public safety through increased taxes.
According to County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt, an interlocal agreement is a contract between two units of local government. Both parties work together towards a common goal. An interlocal agreement is flexible and can cover the cost of almost anything to which both parties agree.
However, the county will not make an interlocal agreement with new Sheridan. Thus, the people there will have to pay what the county currently pays for.
Heirbrandt
“If they’re going to reorg, then they would be responsible for taking on items such as roads, snow removal, public safety, things like that – which I’m sure that they’re going to probably ask us to do,” Heirbrandt said. “They’re extremely expensive. For them to assume [the cost of] what we’re doing when they won’t even talk to us, is a little concerning.”
County Commissioners told The Reporter they have made numerous attempts to speak with the Sheridan Reorganization Committee. All have gone unanswered.
If Sheridan and Adams Township do reorganize into a single unit, taxpayers in that area will be responsible for the expense of repairing and maintaining the roads inside Adams Township.
According to Hamilton County Highway Department Director Brad Davis, there are approximately 100 miles of road in Adams Township. Sixty-six miles of those roads are chip and seal; the remainder are asphalt paved. In order to maintain the current level of service and to complete projects currently scheduled, those expenses will include:
- Repaving seven miles of asphalt road in 2025: $1.1 million (approximately $150,000 per mile)
- Chip and seal 66 miles of road: $500,000 in equipment only
- Special equipment like an asphalt distributor, an aggregate spreader, and a roller: $900,000
- Dump trucks for a chip and seal operation: $400,000 each and an 18 month wait for new orders
- Equipment for an anti-icing program
- Salt: $100,000 ($100 per ton)
- A dry, covered facility to store salt
- Maintaining 35 existing structures, including paying engineers for repair or replacement of those structures ($700,000 or $800,000 per structure)
- Replacing pipe or repairing structure collapses for existing regulated drains
- Paying approximately 20 employees to operate road maintenance equipment (more to include snow removal operations)
- Lamong Road and 236th Street projects: $7 million ($9 million of federal funding at risk)
The reorganized Sheridan will also need to find people with Commercial Driver’s Licenses to operate dump trucks for road maintenance and snow removal operations. Before they can work on the roads, the county trains its workers for approximately one year before they can repair, maintain, flag traffic, or even mow without supervision.
Davis
Davis said there were around 30 activities the county trains its own workers on. Highway employees will also need the expertise to draw up contracts and oversee repaving operations.
Currently, these expenses fall under the county jurisdiction for the portion of Adams Township outside the town limits of Sheridan. If the town and township merge, then the County Highway Department will no longer be responsible for covering those costs.
“They are totally ill-prepared to maintain 100 miles of road,” Davis said. “They do not have the manpower; they do not have the equipment; nor do they have the expertise, and I don’t think they have the budget either.”
According to both Heirbrandt and Davis, the Sheridan and Adams Township officials asked for the county’s costs associated with the township early in this process, but it was not clear the request was about reorganization. What the county provided was more of a thumbnail sketch of its costs, not taking into account all the manpower and equipment used each year.
As soon as it became clear the numbers were being used for the reorganization plan, the county performed a full audit and began reaching out to the reorganization committee to try to provide its members with more comprehensive numbers.
Heirbrandt and others told The Reporter they have been unable to give the more comprehensive numbers to the reorganization committee.
“Our figures came from the detailed audit,” Heirbrandt said. “That was done by Bondry Consulting, as well as our department heads digging into what they’ve spent in the past, and then some of the dollars that are going to be used here in the future for improvements for roads and snow removal and public safety.”
For a deeper explanation of the difference between the county’s costs and those accounted for in the reorganization plan, see “Doing the Math” below.
The Hamilton County Highway Department and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department both told The Reporter they are committed to providing quality service for the people of Adams Township.
Davis and his team rate their roads each year, and they strive to keep their ratings up. They provide 24/7 snow removal services in the winter, but each service they provide is expensive. If new Sheridan wishes to receive the same quality of service for its roads, snow removal, and public safety, it will have to pay more than the reorganization plan accounts for.
The county has repeatedly tried to open communication with the reorganization committee about its fiscal plan and other information regarding expenses, but has received little to no response. Heirbrandt said the county legal team has reached out to the reorganization team repeatedly over concerns that the team did not have (or was not using) accurate financial data.
On Tuesday, June 18, the Sheridan Town Council and the Adams Township Advisory Board will hold a combined meeting to take their final vote for or against moving forward with the reorganization plan. If it is approved, the final decision will then be up to the people of Sheridan and Adams Township on Election Day, Nov 5.
If the people vote yes, the reorganization will take effect Jan. 1, 2025.
New Sheridan’s side
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
This Tuesday, June 18 at 6 p.m., the Sheridan Town Council and the Adams Township Board will hold a joint meeting at the Sheridan Community Center, 300 E. 6th St., Sheridan, to vote on approval of the Plan of Reorganization.
There will be no opportunity for public comment as the final public meeting for this issue was held on May 30.
Adams Township Trustee Michelle Junkins is a member of the Sheridan Reorganization Committee. She was kind enough to speak to The Reporter about the proposed plan to reorganize Sheridan and Adams Township into a single governmental unit and her new role in the ‘new Sheridan.’
According to Junkins, the reason she and others are involved in this reorganization plan is to protect the interests of the citizens of the town and township.
“Coming together as a group with the town, we can kind of control what happens in Sheridan,” Junkins said.
Currently, beyond a two-mile radius outside Sheridan – the “extraterritorial jurisdiction” defined in Indiana Code 36-7-4-205(e) – decisions about planning, zoning and development fall under the jurisdiction of Hamilton County officials, rather than the town or township.
“As far as in the incorporated area, we have our own planning commission,” Junkins said. “We know what’s going to take place on the inside of the jurisdiction of Sheridan. But as far as the outside, we would love to work with the county because we know there’s a need for the roads, snow removal, and all that stuff that we’ve not had to worry about in the past. But if this goes through, we’ll have to. That’s a burden that the town will have to take on.”
Junkins
Junkins was clear that from her perspective it would be best for residents of the ‘new Sheridan’ if they could come to a service agreement with the county.
“We have expressed the desire to talk to them, and it’s just not worked out,” Junkins told The Reporter. “I don’t know if it’s a scheduling conflict or what. [The county’s legal team] did attend our meeting on [May 30]. Even in that meeting, [Sheridan Town Council President] Silas [DeVaney] said we would love to work with the county. There’s been different options out there, but we’ve never had the conversation.”
While the township itself will effectively cease to exist, the responsibilities that currently fall under the purview of Township Trustee Junkins will continue to be her responsibility. Junkins will serve as the initial Director of the Department of Administration under the reorganization plan.
Township assistance, poor relief for rent and utilities, burial services for those who cannot afford it, and cemetery maintenance will continue without interruption.
As you will read elsewhere in today’s edition, police service and road maintenance are less certain.
When asked about those concerns, Junkins referred The Reporter to Sheridan Town Council President Silas DeVaney III and Conrad Consulting President Todd Burtron.
Junkins does not now – nor is she likely in the future – to have road maintenance or public safety as part of her direct responsibilities.
“Todd [Burtron] is who we defer any [of those] conversations to because he’s the consultant for the town and the township,” Junkins told The Reporter. “He’s very much got his ducks in a row and he knows more of the legalities because he’s the one that’s tried to be in contact with the county.”
Regarding issues of road maintenance, snow removal and public safety, Junkins told The Reporter she has always had a good working relationship with the Hamilton County Commissioners and trusts everyone involved wants what is best for all county residents.
“I hope that we can come together and work together because it is still Hamilton County,” Junkins said. “Even though the township part of it comes apart, Sheridan is still in Hamilton County. And like I said, my main thing is I want what’s best for [the new] Sheridan. I think that’s better handled through the people that live here because we know what the needs are and what our driving force is.”
Junkins said reorganization is about what Sheridan’s and Adams Township’s destiny is going to be.
This newspaper has always found Junkins to be open and transparent in her position as Adams Township Trustee. This instance was no different, and we express our thanks for taking time to share her thoughts and insights with our readers.
The Reporter’s attempts to contact Sheridan Town Council President Silas DeVaney III were unsuccessful.
Consultant Todd Burtron declined an in-person request to speak about the reorganization, asking for questions to be emailed instead.
Doing the math
The REPORTER
When Sheridan and Adams Township began exploring the possibility of reorganization, they requested Hamilton County Commissioners provide a summary of costs associated with infrastructure and public safety. They complied, but they did so not knowing their estimates would become the financial basis of the reorganization plan.
Once that fact came to light, the commissioners hired Bondry Consulting to perform a full audit of the costs associated with Adams Township.
The Reporter has spoken to the commissioners, Bondry, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, the Hamilton County Highway Department, and Adams Township Trustee Michelle Junkins in order to give readers as many sides of this issue as finite time and limited space allow.
Public Safety
Gutierrez
“In regard to public safety, the town provided a report that indicates that they will maintain their budget as is,” Bondry CEO Oscar Guiterrez said.
According to the reorganization plan, “police service will be provided to both the Town and Rural Districts by the Sheridan Police Department (“SPD”). The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department will continue to have jurisdiction throughout Hamilton County, including in the jurisdictional limits of the Reorganized Town, and will be called upon for supporting services and call response. Residents within both districts should receive police coverage consistent with the current level of service provided by the SPD and the Hamilton County Sherriff’s [sic] Department.”
Chief Deputy John Lowes told The Reporter that is not accurate.
Lowes
“If they reorganize that way, they would be responsible for the policing,” Lowes said. “I plan to go to the meeting on the 18th. Our view is it [reorganization] is absolutely their right, and we’re not trying to get in the way of that. We just want to make sure Sheridan PD is properly funded, and based on what we’ve seen, we don’t believe that’s the case. There are things that they have to think about, like mileage on their cars, fuel. Those are all things that are going to increase.”
According to both Lowes and Guiterrez, in 2023, the Sheriff’s Department had 2,178 calls for service in Adams Township.
Both sources also provided The Reporter with the same cost summary for police coverage of the township, and those numbers are substantially higher than those detailed in the reorganization plan.
One way to look at costs is to calculate the cost per run based on the total department budget and the total number of runs made in a year. Both the Sheriff’s Department and Bondry agree the cost for police protection in unincorporated Adams Township calculated that way was $599,000 in 2023.
The other way to assess costs is by looking at the cost per deputy in terms of salary, benefits, etc., multiplied by the six total deputies it takes to currently provide 24/7 service to that area. In that case, both the Sheriff’s Department and Bondry agree the cost was $774,000 in 2023.
Both calculations are higher than is accounted for in the reorganization plan.
“Now, the new organization can argue that they can do it for cheaper, and we can’t argue that, but the Sheriff’s estimate is, again, between $599,000 and $774,000,” Guiterrez said.
Whether new Sheridan can provide the current level of service at the same cost or at some lower rate, that cost still needs to be paid.
“If they’re responsible for that area, then that’s going to become their responsibility,” Lowes said. “We’re not opposed to some kind of contractual situation, but that’s something we’d have to discuss. And unfortunately, they haven’t reached out to us about that.”
Another concern Lowes has is about coverage, regardless of cost. Sheridan PD has a recent history of not being able to cover the 2.08 square miles of the town itself. Adams Township would increase that coverage area to 48.36 square miles spread across 100 miles of roadway.
“Throughout 2023 and earlier this year, there were days we were covering Sheridan PD when they didn’t have anybody working,” Lowes said. “We did that because we understand they’re small. Now they’re expanding the area. I’m concerned that they’re not going to be able to cover those areas.”
Taxpayer impact
The reorganization plan reads in part, “It is the intention of this reorganization that there would be no net tax impact to taxpayers within the current Town of Sheridan and Adams Township due to the reorganization. However, the issue of maintenance of the roads within the unincorporated area of Adams Township has yet to be fully resolved.”
Road maintenance costs are addressed elsewhere in today’s edition of The Reporter. Those costs are also detailed in a letter signed by all three County Commissioners, Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush, and Highway Director Brad Davis. That letter will be delivered to Sheridan and Adams Township officials before they meet to vote on approval of the reorganization plan Tuesday evening. A copy of that letter is available at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetter. Attachments to that letter are available at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach1 and at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach2.
It needs to be noted that new Sheridan will get exactly one chance to set appropriate tax rates. If the costs from which the tax rate are calculated are too low to provide public services, that rate can only be increased by four percent per year.
As an example, if the estimates are $1 million low, new Sheridan can only increase the tax rate in Year 2 by $40,000. That rate of growth would never allow the new town to catch up with actual costs.
While new Sheridan can issue bonds to fill in some potential gaps in service, bonds can only be issued for capital investments, not for operational costs. That means bond money (debt) can be accrued for vehicles, equipment, buildings, etc. It cannot be used for employee salaries, benefits, or any other cost that is not tied to a physical item the value of which depreciates over time.
In real world numbers, the difference in tax impact between the reorganization plan’s estimates and the county estimates are listed below.
Taxpayer impact on a $100,000 homestead property:
- Reorg Plan = $27
- County estimate = $232
Taxpayer impact on 100 acres of property classified as farmland:
- Reorg Plan = $183
- County estimate = $915
Communication
Every person who spoke to this newspaper stressed that their concerns were only that a potentially reorganized Sheridan and Adams Township (new Sheridan) be able to serve its citizens at the level they deserve.
Every county official as well as Bondry CEO Oscar Guiterrez were equally clear that none of them are not taking a stance for or against reorganization. The only concerns they expressed to this newspaper were about making certain everyone has accurate information before voting on the creation of a new Sheridan.
According to the reorganization plan, “Officials of the Town and Township are desirous of working with the Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County to enter into an interlocal agreement pertaining to the road improvements, snow removal, grading and maintenance of the roads and streets within the current, unincorporated area of Adams Township (the proposed “Rural District”). However, as of the date of this report an agreement has not yet been reached.”
Adams Township Trustee Michelle Junkins told The Reporter the reorganization committee has expressed a desire to have a conversation with the county about new Sheridan, but “it’s just not worked out” possibly due to scheduling issues.
Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt said multiple attempts by the county to reach out to the reorganization committee for a meeting and to provide the committee with more accurate numbers have been unsuccessful.
Chief Deputy John Lowes said his department’s attempts to communicate with the reorganization committee have been unsuccessful.
Highway Department Director Brad Davis said his department’s attempts to communicate with the reorganization committee have been unsuccessful.
A copy of the letter from county officials to Sheridan and Adams Township officials and residents is available at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetter. Attachments are available at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach1 and at tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach2.
A copy of the final reorganization plan with exhibits dated May 23 is available at tinyurl.com/SheridanReorgPlan.
Proposed Ballot Question
The Town of Sheridan and Adams Township of Hamilton County, Indiana have each adopted a Plan of Reorganization that provides for the consolidation of Adams Township into the Town of Sheridan as a single governmental unit that will be governed and administered as a town with a seven (7) member elected Town Council. Shall the Town of Sheridan and Adams Township reorganize as a single political subdivision?
The Hamilton County Election Board will convene a public meeting at 10 a.m. on July 17, 2024, in the Clerk’s Office pursuant to Indiana Code 5-14-1-5.5. The purpose of the meeting is to review a public question for the ballot for Sheridan/Adams Township.
Links to Important Websites & Documents
Adams Reorg website: adamstownship.net/reorganization.html
Sheridan Reorg website: sheridan.in.gov/reorganization
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Sheridan Reorg plan (final) with exhibits as of May 23: tinyurl.com/SheridanReorgPlan
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Hamilton County’s comprehensive plan: tinyurl.com/CountyCompPlan2020
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Hamilton County’s letter to new Sheridan: tinyurl.com/ReorgLetter
Letter attachment 1: tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach1
Letter attachment 2: tinyurl.com/ReorgLetterAttach2