Bill to eliminate townships, trustees, boards
INDIANAPOLIS--Last year, Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly tried to reform local government by eliminating township trustee positions and township advisory boards. That bill failed to get out of a House committee.
This year, a Democrat is trying something something similar.
Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis introduced a new bill for this session that would do away with townships, trustees and township advisory boards across the state of Indiana. DeLaney said his reform could save taxpayers money by making the system of providing support for the poor more efficient.
“What’s so wrong with the system right now is it costs $1.20, roughly, to give away a dollar. There is no charity in the state of Indiana that would survive for very long if they [did this],” he said. “So we’re wasting taxpayer money and to the extent there is a greater need, we ought to devote the money we could save to the poor people.”
DeLaney said some townships in Indiana hold as much as $50 million in financial reserves, and statewide, townships hold an estimated $200 million in reserve. He said these figures do not include properties owned by the townships. His plans would include using the financial reserves townships hold to help with poverty in the state of Indiana.
Delaney's proposal calls for one county advocate for the poor, moving fire management into a county entity and splitting township reserves among programs throughout the state.
“My proposal…would give 25 percent of the reserves to the county legislature for property tax relief… I would give 25 percent to the state to work on alleviating poverty, not just giving someone a coat or a pair of shoes or paying a light bill, but making grants and doing some serious things about poverty. And then I would give one quarter to Indiana State University and one quarter to…IU Northwest, to do studies and grants on alleviating poverty,” said DeLaney.
His proposal already has run in to opposition.
Debbie Driskell, president of the Indiana Township Association, said that the current township system is more cost-effective than allowing counties to take over the responsibilities now held by trustees.
Andrew Berger, Legislative Director of the Association of Indiana Counties, also said that Delaney's proposal will not save the state money. He said Indiana is not ready for the complete elimination of townships across the state
.
Revamping the township and township trustee system was among the the ideas generated by the commission to reform government in Indiana that former Gov. Joe Kernan and Chief Justice Randall Shephard co-chaired.
DeLaney said his proposal is more complete and precise than last year’s unsuccessful bill.
Committee chair John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, said rural communities were not well represented within the committee in 2009. He also commented that there are too many differences between rural and urban areas to combine the townships under county control.
DeLaney said that he ensure that rural areas were represented in township reform process.
