Township merger bill clears Legislature after years of failed attempts

Perhaps hundreds of Indiana’s roughly 1,000 township governments could face consolidation under a bill headed to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk.

State senators voted 34-15 Thursday in favor of the bill, which supporters say aims to improve the efficiency of local government.

Provisions of Senate Bill 270which the House approved Tuesday, would require cantons with poor results to merge with other cantons or certain cities.

The bill’s author, Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, said that although about 325 townships could be subject to mergers, the legislation was intended to preserve township government.

“This is not an attack on the canton government,” he said during the Senate debate.

Indiana Township officials have long highlighted the importance of services they provide. This work includes providing emergency assistance for expenses such as utilities and housing to low-income residents, with some municipalities also operating fire departments or parks and maintaining old cemeteries.

Critics say the township system dating to the 1800s is inefficient and that these functions could be better handled by cities or counties. But over the past two decades, numerous attempts at major reorganization of Indiana’s townships have failed.

The bill specifies that townships would accrue points based on factors such as whether they provide emergency assistance, operate a fire department or emergency medical services agency, file financial reports in a timely manner and have had candidates in recent township trustee elections.

Some senators expressed concern about the impact the merger process would have on services in rural areas, including volunteer fire departments.

“I think there are too many unanswered questions,” said Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg. “We’re moving too fast and I see no reason why we can’t wait another year to make sure all these unanswered questions are resolved.”