Richland Township and the town of Ellettsville are one step closer to a referendum in November on reorganizing the entities.

A joint meeting of the Richland Township Board & the Town Council of Ellettsville voted Wednesday to approve a financial impact analysis prepared by Baker Tilly Advisory Group.

According to the analysis, if the merger passes, property tax rates are expected to increase by 6.9% for current Richland Township residents, 4.1% for the portion of Ellettsville in Richland Township, and 3.5% for the section of Ellettsville in Bean Blossom Township.

However, Paige Sansone with Baker Tilly said that “circuit breaker” property tax credits in Indiana mean that won’t translate into higher taxes for everyone.

“Some properties may see smaller increases, or perhaps even little to no increase, depending on if the property is hitting the property tax caps,” Sansone said. “If the calculated tax bill, as I stated before, is above the cap, the taxpayer does not pay the full rate increase because the tax cap limits the bill.”

Listen: Noon Edition: Ellettsville and Richland Township explore merger

The boards also discussed how law enforcement and public works funding models would change under the merger, and plans to hire more police officers and public works officials.

The fiscal impact analysis will be submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance for review.

The township board and town council will meet on June 10 to hold a hearing on the Plan of Reorganization, and are set to vote on whether to adopt a Reorganization Plan in a meeting on June 22nd.

If the plan is adopted by both the township board and town council, it will go to voters on the November ballot.