Proposed legislation is pending in the Indiana General Assembly that would eliminate township boards throughout the state. House Bill 1232 would, if adopted, abolish the 150-year-old township legislative branch of local government effective on Jan. 1, 2019.
In Hamilton County, each township has a three-member board which is responsible for adopting an annual budget, salary scale and tax levy for township services. Townships in Indiana provide poor relief, money for fire protection, cemetery upkeep and in some cases park and recreation funding.
Under the proposed law, sponsored by Indianapolis Rep. Cindy Ziemke, the county council would take on the township board’s responsibilities. There would still be a township trustee who would submit his or her fiscal matters to the council for approval or denial.
The change in the law is apparently being planned as a method of saving money. The township board members are part-time and receive salaries ranging from a few hundred dollars per year in small townships to several thousand dollars in the state’s largest townships. There are 1,008 such units of local government statewide, nine of which are found in Hamilton County.
The future of the legislation is uncertain. Most of the 3,024 board members in the state are assumed to be opposed, and many county council members are less than enthusiastic about taking on the fiscal functions of townships. But, for several years townships have been the target of government reformers who believe this unit of government is no longer needed.