Ellettsville and Richland Township are kicking off the yearlong process of putting a vote to combine into one entity on the ballot. But many residents are still unsure what that will mean.
Of around 30 people who answered the door on a snowy Tuesday, few in the quiet Richland neighborhood of Java Heights had heard of the impending reorganization. Those who did felt like they still didn’t know enough to share their thoughts.
At a sparsely attended meeting of the Ellettsville Town Council Monday, a handful of Richland residents wanted to learn more. They found out about reorganization through Facebook.
Amanda Turnipseed was one of them.
“I love where I live,” she said. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I just want what's best for everyone.”
The outcome could have a huge impact on the future of the community said town council member William Ellis.
“They don't like using the word historic, but I can't think of anything else like this,” he said.
Richland Township surrounds Ellettsville. It has 35 square miles, while Ellettsville has around five. Ellettsville has a population of less than 7,000, while the township has more than double that.
As Town Manager Mike Farmer explains, the outcome will be an entirely different entity.
“It will be a new formed government,” he said. “And it is not at all that Ellettsville will be absorbing the township. It will be that the township will be absorbing Ellettsville.”
Recent changes to Indiana’s local tax laws are at the top of Farmer’s mind. He’s a fiscal conservative but says new caps on how much towns can raise are hurting their ability to maintain basic services such as fire and police. Growing the town won’t solve that, but it might give Ellettsville more options when it comes to revenue-generating development.
“It makes it more for a stable, larger area that we can provide economic development that may bring us back out,” Farmer said.
The reorganization could change who shows up when you call the police, who plows your roads, what you pay in property taxes and what you’re allowed to build in your backyard.
If all goes as planned by the town council and township board, residents and the town and county will each vote separately on whether to approve reorganization in November.
“A lot of times these decisions are made by a few people, but this is going to be made by everyone in the township,” Ellis said.
Proponents such as Dawn Durnil, Secretary of the Richland Township Trustees Board, argue it will give people in the township more local control, especially if they own farm animals or want to subdivide their property.
“We would no longer be subject to Monroe County's control over what we can do with our land,” she said.
Ellettsville is working with consulting firm Baker Tilly to think about how a reorganization would look. It includes different tax rates and different services for urban and rural districts.
“The most that the change would be approximately $250 a year for anyone, but that is actually within the town limits,” Durnil said.
All those details will be decided by a reorganization committee, consisting of three members from the town, three from the township, and one to be picked by the rest.
That takes us back to Monday’s town council meeting. Farmer’s shortlist of candidates proved contentious. Some councilors asked ahead of time to see the list. Others were surprised he hadn’t sent it to them.
Turnipseed came to the meeting looking for answers, but said the council appeared confused.
“I think that communication today has been lacking, and I think that there is a lot of work that needs to happen before either entity makes a vote of the significance that it will have on the residents,” she said.
Richland trustees picked their three members of the committee Friday and Ellettsville voted on three Monday night.
The reorganization committee has until April to draft a plan. That will be followed by public hearings and revisions in May.
