- In the town council of Eltsville, Indiana Monroe County is a joint board looking toward the agenda this
- evening which deals with consolidation First we'll do roll call the members. So we'll start to one edge
- I guess Shipboard David Willoughby Richland Township board
- Don Durnall, Richland Township Board. Scott Oldham, Town of Ellitsville. William Ellis, Town of Ellitsville.
- Traverse Mayor, Town of Ellitsville. I will now certify that there is a quorum present from both councils
- so we can move forward with that. We'll now begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Stand please. I pledge
- allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
- One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do a new prayer. Thank you for
- this day, and we thank you for the time you have allotted for us to come together like this and try
- to view what it is you have to do with our community. May all these receiving
- Move to the Baker Tilly slide presentation on proposed reorganization and fiscal impact analysis between
- Richland Township and Towneville
- Hello, I'm Brandon Scribes with Baker Tilly. I'm gonna go through the same presentation that we went
- through last time. Please interrupt me if you have any questions at all. Happy to answer them as we
- go rather than waiting till the end. Can you all hear me okay if I step back? Okay. So the purpose of
- the reorganization, as all of you know, is to improve efficiencies, enhance the services,
- We want to be the town to be more flexible, improve the planning, and support future growth. Really,
- this is a forward-looking approach that's supposed to make things easier and more collaborative. What's
- being proposed is that Richland Township and the town of Ellitsville join to be one unified government.
- And if this becomes effective through voter approval in November, then it would begin as of January
- 1 of 2027.
- So as of today, right now there's two separate units, there's Ellisville Town and there's Richland Township.
- These two units have separate budgets, separate administrations. They provide separate services for
- the most part. What would be under the proposed structure is the Richland Township and Ellisville would
- join as one government and they would have one budget and one governing body and limit administrative
- duplication. So getting more into the governance structure,
- If past this new reorganized town would become a seven member town council rather than the current five,
- the township government would be dissolved as we know it today. And representation would still be maintained
- for both what is currently Ellisville and what is currently Richland Township. And we were calling them
- in the reorganized structure, we're calling them the urban and rural areas.
- The services provided would be the same overall services. You've got your public safety, roads, parks,
- planning and zoning, and then township assistance that is at the Richland Township level would now be
- called public assistance, but it'd be providing the same services as are provided now by the township.
- Under the two service areas, again, we're calling them urban and rural. Urban is Ellitsville, and then rural is
- outside of Elitsville or Richland Township. The urban district is current town boundaries and they would
- get full municipal delivery. Rural district is the former township and the services are tailored to
- lower density rural areas. But we'll get more into the details of that here in a few slides.
- Or this slide. So this slide is touching on the tax base that is used to come up with
- property taxes this isn't necessarily how the services will work so the first services are police debt
- service and cumulative that's over just the current town boundaries debt services that way because the
- township taxpayers are not going to be paying for debt that currently exists under the town and the
- cumulative funds will be based off of that as well police will be taxed over the current town of Ellitsville however
- the entire reorganized area would be receiving the police service in this case. Same with fire, well,
- fire parks in the general administration, that's taxed over the entire consolidated area, and the entire
- area would receive those services. And public assistance is then broken out. That, again, is the township
- assistance. Everyone would receive that, but it's broken out because
- Bean Blossom, there's a portion of Ellisville that's Bean Blossom, they would get township assistance
- from Bean Blossom Township. So why do we do two districts? This is to match taxes with the level of
- service being provided, and it allows phased-in growth and expansion, it preserves the rural character
- that the township currently has, and it also supports long-term infrastructure planning.
- So some of the updates to the services for public safety. The plan is to increase police staffing and
- fire staffing to allow for better response time and also to just maintain the good response times that
- there are now and also to address the growing service demand. As you can imagine, you're adding in an
- entire township to the town. There's gonna be a growing service demands for planning and development.
- It is to unify the planning and zoning authority and to have consistent land use policies for the entire
- reorganized area. Also would allow for an updated comprehensive plan and unified development ordinance.
- And it just supports coordinated growth throughout the entire area with with the one reorganized unit
- for roads and infrastructure.
- Obviously, there would be expanded responsibility of the town, because now they have all the township
- roads to care for. They would be using town crews and potentially contracted services until they can
- build up to where they will be able to cover it all on their own. And this would be funded by revenues
- like MBH, gas taxes, and wheel taxes. On to the other two services. Township services, which is referring
- to, again, that township assistance or public assistance,
- That department within the newly organized town would provide the township financial assistance, cemetery
- maintenance, as well as community services. And it is anticipated that the staff at the township level
- would transition into the town. Lastly is utilities and stormwater. There's no immediate changes expected.
- The existing providers are gonna remain the same, but there's gonna be a focus on coordination and long-term planning.
- Here's a summary of the expected staffing changes based off of the proposed reorganization. As you can
- see, the biggest increases to staffing are to fire and police, and that is because the demand for service
- is going to increase. There's also a few other departments that are seeing positions added, and that's
- just because with the higher population, the larger amount of streets to cover, there's just gonna be
- a little bit of
- additional responsibility, which results in the need for additional staff. Excuse me. So the summary
- of the financial impact. This, we're on slide 15 for anybody following along on paper. This is the breakdown
- of property tax levies and property tax rates for both the town of Ellitsville and Richland Township.
- You can see that Ellitsville has a
- current levy of three point three million dollars approximately three point three and The township of
- Richland has one point two million dollar levy that accounts to about a sixteen cent tax rate for Richland
- and a sixty one sixty two cent tax rate for Ellisville And the town
- Does have some data like I mentioned earlier The township taxpayers will not be responsible for paying
- the debt and liabilities so that property tax Is not going to be taxed over the taxpayers in the current
- Richland Township, which will then be the rural area of Ellsville And just to repeat myself the existing
- town debt will not be transferred to Township residents. That's that's an important factor in our opinion
- So financial overview, currently the total budgeted operating expenses for both the township and the
- town is about $8.4 million. Based on some changes, which the changes are some cost reductions because
- you're unifying one government. There's also on the other side the additions because you have more demand
- for services. The total estimated budget for the reorganized town would be $11.3 million.
- And again, the focus is reducing administrative duplication and to invest in public safety and roads
- and infrastructure. This is just to show future years if the town were to reorganize. This is showing
- that based off of what's being proposed with expected revenues and expected budgets that it could be
- funded. The very bottom line is the estimated change in fund balance.
- which shows that each year the the new proposed reorganized town is able to function healthily. So post
- reorganization this is the numbers behind what I said earlier when it comes to the services being provided.
- So the total property tax levy estimated property tax levy for the reorganized town is about six point
- one million dollars. The tax rates for
- What is over the urban area in the rural area is different. And that is because again you're kind of
- matching the tax rates with the service levels. You'll see that in the rural area there's no debt being
- taxed on the rural area and that's because that's town debt. And then the police is just being taxed
- on the urban area. However I want to reiterate that all of the reorganized town would be receiving police
- services from the town of Ellisville.
- So how, what a property tax payer probably wants to know is how this is gonna impact your property tax
- bill. That's a great question. This is the initial estimated impact. So Richland Township would see
- almost a 7% increase, while Ellitsville is about a 4%. Now I say that with the caveat being that some
- properties are gonna be at the property tax caps,
- If you're already at the property tax caps or if the increase gets you to the property tax cap, then
- you're not gonna see that full increase in your property tax bill. And if that's confusing, we're gonna
- get into that more detail so you can kinda better understand how that works. So what does this mean
- for taxpayers? These are just some examples and they're based on a range. So a residential property
- in Richland Township
- Assuming the residential property property is between one hundred and fifty and three hundred thousand
- dollars they would see a five to twelve dollar increase on a monthly basis while Ellitsville town is
- about three to five dollars. Again that's depending on the property tax caps for properties in Ellitsville
- properties residential properties over two hundred eighty five thousand dollars are already at the caps
- so they wouldn't see that increase.
- for 2% property or farmland and residential rentals. If the range was between $500,000 and a million,
- Aboriginal Township would see $18 to $89 in an increase per month, while Ellsville Town would see $6
- to $29. And then commercial or 3% property would be anywhere between $47 and $94 a month and $36 and
- $72 a month. The reason 3% increases are more
- is because the cap is higher for those and they're less likely to hit the caps. So how can you as an
- individual taxpayer estimate the impact on your property tax bill? The first step is to get your current
- property tax bill in hand. If you don't have that, you can find it on the Monroe County property tax
- portal. After you have your tax bill, you can see what area you're in.
- If you're in Richland Township, you're going to apply a 6.9% increase. If you're in one of
- the two Ellitsville areas, it's 3.5% to 4%. So based off of that, let's say that you lived in Richland
- Township and your current annual property tax bill was $1,800. You would take the 6.9% increase times
- that $1,800 property tax bill, and that comes out to about $124 annually with about a $10 a month impact.
- That being said that calculation could be impacted by property tax caps and we're going to get into
- that a little more. So property tax caps are what limit a property owners amount they pay in property
- taxes for 1% properties. You take 1% times the gross assessed value and something that's important to
- know is the cap
- If we're using 1% the cap is based off of gross assessed value while your property tax bill is based
- off of net assessed value which means deductions are taken out before applying the tax rate. And then
- residential rental and farmland is 2% cap and then commercial and business property is 3% cap. That's
- why I mentioned that some of those commercial properties probably aren't at the caps. It's because it's
- 3% instead of the lower 1%.
- So what exactly do these property tax credits mean for taxpayers and for the local government for taxpayers?
- It means the tax bill is limited to the tax cap So you may only see a small increase or no increase
- at all based off of the proposed reorganization And for the local government it means that they whatever
- those credits are it means that they don't receive that in property tax revenue and
- And this could also impact other units in the district, like the school, library, county, et cetera.
- This chart is showing the estimated impact to other units within the taxing district. So the first column
- is the 2026 certified circuit breaker or property tax credits. The second one is
- estimated for 2027 without reorganization. And the orange column is estimated 2027 with reorganization.
- So you'll see here that the biggest impacted unit is Ellisville town expected to see about $145,000
- increase in property tax credits. Richlands would actually decrease because Richland is no longer going
- to have any property tax
- And then some of the other units are also impacted. Any property tax? Yeah. Richland will no longer
- be in existence because it will be a unified government. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously their circuit breaker
- is going to go down because they don't exist anymore. Here is the estimated change to those same units
- going forward. The changes from year to year are going to vary.
- depending on the different changes at the state level. These changes include the estimated impacts of
- SCA one, which was legislation at the state level. So those are gonna kind of vary from year to year.
- Some years they go up, some years they go down, it just depends. And this also assumes that the town's
- property tax levy goes up in order to fund the extra demand for services. So what's next?
- The next meeting is on June 22nd. There will be a joint public meeting to consider the final approval.
- And then going forward, there will be a plan submitted to the DLGF and deadline for the public to submit
- questions to Monroe County. The DLGF will provide comments on the plan that is submitted to them. And
- then if it gets to that point, the public vote would be in November. And if approved by the public vote,
- this would become
- Effective the beginning of next year It's important to note with the vote that it must be approved by
- both town voters and township voters The majority approval is both for the both of them separately So
- key take key takeaways again, this is to create a coordinated local government one unified and
- trying to get rid of duplication of services, improve public safety and road maintenance services, and
- just position the community for infrastructure investments and future growth. That's all I got.
- Thank you. Thank you. So this board takes us down to number seven on the agenda, which is discussion
- of the reorganization plan for Richland Township and Town of Ellesville.
- Is that correct? Those two were combined, three and four, or five and six. I'm happy to give a synopsis
- of the plan. As you stated at the beginning of the meeting, this is the first of two public meetings
- with regard to the proposed plan of reorganization. And this evening is a public hearing on that plan.
- And as I think the boards and hopefully everyone in the audience knows, this is a project that quite
- a few people have worked on since last fall.
- The reorganization committee passed a draft plan on April 8th. And so that plan is up for discussion
- this evening. And as Mr. Scruggs pointed out, if the reorganization plan is approved, it will go to
- the voters in November. The reorganized town of Ellisville will include the entirety of Richland Township
- with the exception of that small corner in the southeast corner of the township, which is annexed by
- the city of Bloomington.
- The reorganization would be effective January 1st, 2027. The reorganized town would have the duties
- and authority of both the town and also the township. You will have all of the normal players that you
- would expect to find in a town government. So you're gonna have the council members, you're gonna have
- a clerk, you're going to have a town manager. The township government will be dissolved. As Mr. Scruggs
- pointed out, the debt incurred by the town will stay with the town residents. It does not get shifted
- to the township residents.
- Your new town council will be expanded to seven members as of the effective date. That includes five
- current board members plus the two township board members who get the most votes in the next election.
- They will fill the at large seats. So what you'll have is five districts, which is what you have now.
- And you will also have two at large seats and the council members will be elected by the voters of the
- entire town. You will have an advisory board, which consists of five members.
- which will all be township residents. All laws currently in effect for the town of Ellisville will remain
- in effect. The town will provide the services, the planning and zoning, the parks, the fire and police,
- the township assistance. You'll have the two service districts, which are taxing districts, not zoning
- districts, that's the urban and the rural. And as the rural areas start to become more urban, there's
- a process whereby the town council can pass an ordinance shifting those urban areas that are
- sorry, rural areas that are becoming urbanized, you can shift those. The plan is also to update the
- UDO and the comp plan as soon as possible to account for the properties in Richland Township. You will
- still have a seven member plan commission and a five member Board of Zoning Appeals. The park board
- will remain the same. And with regard to township assistance, as I stated, the former township trustees
- duties, which includes cemetery maintenance,
- burial assistance, the food pantry, those types of things will be shifted to the town, and you will
- have a new position created within the town for that person will take on the duties that the township
- trustee formerly had. So that's just a real short synopsis of the plan, but I'm happy to answer any
- questions.
- Quick question just for clarity and then we'll turn it over questions from the board You mentioned there's
- a small section in Richland Township of that is currently managed by the city of Bloomington Just so
- everyone understands should this go through? The city Bloomington will retain that portion that they've
- already annexed but they cannot anytime in the future Annex into the new Ellsville because they're both
- municipalities so it's not like where Bloomington can annex in or Ellsville can annex out at this point
- time should this consolidation take effect that prohibits the city and
- from annexing anything in the newly formed town slash city as it were, correct? Yes. Okay. Questions
- from the board and then we'll open it up to the public. I actually have one for the attorneys. On the
- agenda and in the plan, they were saying that we would be voting tonight. My understanding was tonight
- is just a public hearing where there would be no votes. I just wanted to make that clarification, so.
- Thank you.
- on the agenda, the resolutions is because technically this meeting is the first reading of both of those
- resolutions. So that's why it's listed on the agenda. But yes, there is no vote. I reassure the public
- we had no intention of voting tonight. I had a thought here a week or so ago and actually I ran into
- William at the restaurant and I asked him about it. He answered it.
- I think it's something that should be brought up. Obviously, the state would like to take all the townships
- over, period. And that probably will happen someday, maybe five, 10 years from now. But there also have
- been a lot of talk about merging some of the townships that don't have so much money. Like, let's say,
- I'll use an example, Bean Blossom.
- And it's my understanding that they would merge with an adjoining township if they can. So I asked him
- about that. And then also Washington township, I said, well, where would that go? And he told me,
- he said, it could go to Bean Blossom, Richland township would be three or Washington township could
- go to Bloomington.
- So I wondered how that would affect everything. And maybe I'll let William explain it. Basically,
- he said, if it happens, nothing would change immediately, but am I telling it right? So that would kind
- of, really would depend on what the state structure of that would do. I mean, but what we're talking
- about for the reorganization here, it would not impact what we're talking about here.
- but there will be state statutes, again, correct me if I'm wrong, that will guide on how that would
- have to be on how they come in. But the one thing I do know is that usually, if that happens, I've not
- seen any talk of it being a public vote like this is. It would have to be something that, you know,
- it's from the state level, they're dissolved, but if you wanna, am I correct on that?
- Okay. So the way that House Bill 1370 ended up passing is that the each township has to have four points
- or more showing that they cannot maintain what they have and they need to merge with another township
- or municipality. So if
- the reorganization does not go through and Bean Blossom does not have, you know, they have their four
- points or more, then they will have to merge with Richland Township. And at that point, then Washington
- could either go with Bloomington or they could go to Richland. If reorganization does go through and
- Bean Blossom has those four points, they will not have an option except to join into the town of Ellitsville.
- That will be what they are forced to do by the state.
- they not join with another township that they touch? They cannot, they cannot adjoin, they can't join
- with Washington. Washington is probably going to have four points. And so you can't, two smaller ones
- cannot go together. They have to go with a larger one. Do they go to Van Buren, do they touch? No. Then
- question, and again, anybody that knows better than this, please chime in. One, it would not be a public
- vote. No, it's the state says that's how it is.
- They would just assume whatever tax rate that municipality has. It's my understanding. So how is the
- question? Would we have an option at that point or is that's that's that question. I do not know the
- answer to the ability for either this current town or the consolidated town to say no. I can speak to
- part of that.
- Everything that's been said is correct. It is a scoring system. Laws can and do change. And so,
- over time, I can't sit here today and tell you what that statute may or may not look like a year from
- now. And the legislature can always amend it, and that situation might be one of those examples. But
- I don't think it implicates the decision before you hear in this process, but I think it's smart to
- look ahead and look at all the what-ifs.
- Does that answer your question? Yeah, I just thought it should be brought up because, you know, I thought
- about it and I'm sure it's going to happen. And this process is pretty much public driven in the sense
- that, you know, there's kind of a back and forth on tax rates and services and stuff. I've not seen
- anything like that in the current law. If that's done, so, I mean,
- Public comment now That way we can take care of that portion of it before we get an announcement future
- dates and things like that Okay, we will open it up to public comment again. Remember this is a comment
- You have a three minutes at the podium Use your time as you see fit and we'll go from there. So if there's
- anyone who wishes to make a comment on a
- Potential consolidation between Richland Township and the current town of Elksville, please approach
- the lectern sign in and you'll three minutes will begin Good evening
- I'm Jill Thurman, Director of the Greater Ellisville Area Chamber of Commerce. First, thank you to the
- town council and the Richland Township Board for your service, for your time, effort, and thoughtful
- work you put into making decisions on behalf of our community. We appreciate your dedication to Ellisville
- and its future. Also, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. On behalf of the Greater Ellisville
- Area Chamber of Commerce,
- After careful consideration, our board of directors recommends a yes vote on placing the proposed
- reorganization of the town of Ellisville and Richland Township on the November ballot. At this time,
- our support is specifically for allowing the question to go before the voters so the community can decide.
- We believe this is an important conversation about the future of Ellisville and that residents
- and businesses should have the opportunity to review the proposal, ask questions, and make informed
- decisions. As an organization committed to growth, collaboration, and the long-term success of our community,
- we believe allowing the public to weigh in through the ballot process is the appropriate next step.
- Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
- Good evening. My name is Eric Spoonmore. I am president of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.
- You get to hear a lot of chambers of commerce tonight. I'm also a resident of Richland Township. And
- while I'm speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce personally as a resident, I also agree with
- this entire statement. So just wanted to let you all know the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce
- supports placing the proposed reorganization
- of the town of Ellitsville and Richland Township on the November ballot. The residents and businesses
- most directly affected deserve the chance to review the plan, ask questions, and make an informed decision
- about their community's future. We place significant value on the perspective of the greater Ellitsville
- area Chamber of Commerce, a trusted regional partner with firsthand knowledge of the community it serves.
- Its decision to support allowing this question
- to go before voters reflects the importance of giving the public a direct voice in a matter that touches
- local governance, services, planning, and growth. Ellisville and Richland Township are important parts
- of Monroe County's broader economic vitality. Many of our member businesses, which we have over 900
- of, have owners, employees, customers, and families connected to these communities. How these communities
- grow and govern themselves matter
- to the region. And so our position at this stage is straightforward, to support a transparent public
- process and let voters decide in November. We encourage residents, businesses, and community stakeholders
- in Ellitsville and Richland Township to stay engaged, become informed, and to participate. Thank you
- all. Appreciate your service.
- My name is Harry Ferris. I live in the southeast corner of Richland Township. And really, I have a question.
- My curiosity is about this annexation. What area of the southeast part of the township is subject to
- annexation by the city that was mentioned? It's already been done. Yeah, years ago, wasn't it, Darla?
- Yes, it's not a new area.
- The third and Curry area is where they're talking about, correct? Right. It's already in that area.
- It's already in the city of Bloomington. If yours is not, then you can't get annexed if this goes through.
- Okay. But yeah, we're talking about stuff that had been done years, not the current annexation thing.
- That has been the courts. Not the one that's pending. Right. That is dead for Richland Township and
- this would prevent you from
- being annexed. I would set up a border that yeah, the city couldn't. That is correct. Thank you.
- Thank you. Anyone else? Good stuff up. Hello all. Carl Thurman. I'm a business owner and
- historic downtown area and also a resident of that area. And I've heard a lot of good comments and discussion
- on this. And I think if we're gonna practice being a government for the people and by the people, then
- this should go before the voters and let the constituents decide where we go from here. Thank you for
- your time.
- Good evening. My name is Noel Conyer and I'm coming to you this evening as the vice chair of the Monroe
- County Republican Party. The Monroe County Republican Party supports a yes vote to move the proposed
- governmental reorganization between the town of Elstville and Richland Township to the ballot for public
- consideration. Republicans have long supported efficient government, fiscal responsibility, accountability
- to taxpayers, and strong local control.
- This proposal reflects those principles by reducing duplication of government services and giving voters
- the chance to decide on what kind of government structure makes the most sense for our community. At
- a time when taxpayers are asking harder questions about transparency, spending, and local decision making,
- conversations about improving government should not be shut down before the public has a chance to weigh
- in. What makes this proposal different is simple. It puts the decision where it belongs with the voters.
- People across Monroe County have seen plenty of decisions move forward even after residents show up,
- ask serious questions, express concerns, yet they're handed decisions that fail to represent that. This
- reorganization process has incorporated public input from the beginning, address concerns, which is
- exactly why this process should be allowed to continue. The voters of Richland Township and Ellisville
- deserve the opportunity to review the proposal and make the final decisions for themselves at the ballot box.
- allowing the reorganization plan to move forward does not decide the outcome. It simply allows the public
- to make the decision instead of having it stopped by a small group of elected officials before voters
- get their say. The Monroe County Republican Party encourages our elected officials to respect the process
- and allow the public to decide the issue at the ballot box. Thank you.
- Richard Dillman, McNeely Street in the township. One question, currently my tax bill for 2026,
- I give $1,500 for 2026 to the county. What is the percentage of that money that's gonna come to this
- reorganized entity after this if it goes through?
- I'm telling you, that's what the township people need to hear. Well, I think that the tax increase would
- be what they stated, 6.9%. And that includes, as a result of reorganization, your tax bill would increase 6.9%.
- Well, let's back up just a little bit. And forgive me, sir, for putting words in your mouth, so correct
- me. He's talking, your entire property bill is $1,500, is that what you're saying? No, my entire property
- bill is 4,000. Okay, but you have 1,500 of a dose.
- 1500, it goes to the schools. This is money that goes to the county, the county debt. And currently,
- of course, I included in that 1500, the township and the township debt. So that would come out of there.
- But still, my concern is I'm paying right now, and you are too, for road service, sheriff's, judicial,
- on and on and on. There's gotta be a, whoever passed this law through had to figure out that some of
- that money was gonna come to this new reorganized entity. It can't just all keep going to the county.
- Can you potentially show him how to work that here in just a few minutes? If you'll get with him, he'll
- show you how to do it based upon property tax for you. But also I think I understand that 1500, you're
- saying with this,
- In a sense, how much less are we paying to the county going to here? Is that kind of what you're? Exactly.
- How much next year, if this goes through of that $1,500, let's just say how much is Monroe County going
- to get out of that next year if it goes through? If I'm not mistaken, it would still get the 1,500 because
- we still pay the same county rate currently. The city of Bloomington pays the same county rate.
- Okay, you know, and I bring this up, I'm not saying this is bad or good. No, I'm just saying, there's
- gotta be some pluses here for the people in the township. Well, there's actually, there's quite a few.
- And then just comments. I assume Ellisville doesn't do deficit spending today. No. And nor does the
- township. No. So we should be able to go into the reorganization without a tax increase.
- I mean, let's live like we do with our own paychecks, with our own checkbooks. If we got the money,
- we don't spend it. We are picking up more services though. Exactly. So that's hence there will be. And
- I think you're gonna get more tax dollars than you projected because your $300,000 is low in Ritsland
- Township, I think. Probably. I mean, right now, if you take that $1,500,
- times the 6,400 parcels that are in Richland Township, that's $10 million. Right, but that still will
- not come to the town of Ellitsville. And that's what I can't agree with, although I don't have any control
- over it. As far as I'm concerned, we only get a couple of county trucks. Right, and that's what we're
- trying to prevent because you will get services from the town of Ellitsville. I know I'll get service,
- I'll get good road service, but that's it.
- I live on Union Valley Road, so I'm in the same boat as you. We will also get a say. Right now, you
- and I have nobody at the county level who cares about. I agree with you wholeheartedly. So what we will
- get is that in our area, and I don't have the map with me to show, but we will have
- somebody from our area that will be on the town council. And so we will be able to go and knock on somebody's
- door or call them or email them and say, hey, this is coming up and this is how I feel about it. And
- so we'll at least have that opportunity for that. I appreciate that. I just wish there was more positives
- out there because I'm afraid you're not going to get enough people to the ballot box. I think it will
- come down to do they
- trust Monroe County government to guide their future when it comes to public safety and especially land
- use? Exactly. Or will they trust people that more align with them? We won't get into that. But anyway,
- thank you. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Let's put this down a little bit there. Hello, my name
- is Anna Bednarski and I am a resident of the town on Deer Run.
- And looking at the report, which I've read, all 43 pages, as well as the fiscal impact, I think today's
- presentation, if anyone wants to look at slide 17, because I think there's a really relevant number
- there, the budgeted operating expenses for 2026 are 8.4 million for the combined township and town,
- if I'm reading that correctly.
- The estimated operating expenses in the reorganized town would be eleven point three million dollars.
- So that is to me a vast increase in spending and a lot of it is through almost doubling the police force.
- and increasing the fire department operating budget which the fire department will be, again if I'm
- understanding this correctly, serving the same area that it does now. So I think we need to ask ourselves
- as township and town residents about this increase and why it doesn't apply to other areas like education
- or other local concerns that we have.
- But as a town resident, likely my property taxes will not go up very much. We will likely hit the property
- tax cap. The thing that concerns me is one of the justifications being about development. This would,
- and again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that this would increase the size of the town eight
- times, eight times geographic area. Is that, am I making that up or?
- It takes the entire township right so so at least multiple times what the current town is right and
- one of the justifications for the change is to Have more local control of development The only issue
- with that is we've heard no assurances for many of the leaders at this table that there are certain
- kinds of development that would be Discouraged Factory farming
- data centers and the like. So to be honest, I don't feel any safer with a reorganized town and their
- development plans versus what we have now. Thank you. If I can address just one thing that she said,
- and we're talking about putting money toward education, understand that does not fall to the town. That
- is the school corporation.
- So any money that goes to the school corporation, they are the ones that take care of the schools. The
- town and the school corporation are separate governmental entities and will remain separate governmental
- entities. Next, anyone else? Can I make a comment? Sure. So as far as the fire, the increase in the
- amount of funds for the fire department, regardless of whether or not the reorganization goes through,
- Our fire department is currently working understaffed, and we've got to get them to a safe level. We
- always have, they have an agreement, all the local fire departments have an agreement that they will
- come and assist, but our guys are working, our guys and gals are working understaffed, and
- if the reorganization does not go through, this is still gonna happen with them getting more
- firefighters because we will have the fire territory and our taxes in the township are going to go up
- to provide for that. So regardless of whether or not reorganization goes through, we've got to get our
- fire department back up to where they should be so they can work safely to keep us safe. And one other
- thing I do want to address, and thank you. I think we've talked online about data centers and things
- like that. I want to make clear to everybody, data centers in any construction
- they're gonna have to address before. I don't like saying blanket no to anything because I'd say based
- on the plan in front of me. And if the plan in front of me is as negative as some of the stuff I've
- heard, absolutely I would not vote for it. Those things would have to be addressed. So it's just kind
- of a function of the way I operate and I think the board operates. If somebody can do something with
- Minimizes or eliminates the impact to the surrounding areas will consider it. So I don't think we would
- Want to make a blanket ban or statement any type of industry and correct me if I'm wrong it would be
- incredibly poor public policy for one of us to say absolutely not we'll never do it because Everyone
- is free. Everyone is free to come forward and present to something whether or not we would vote for
- it or not and
- That's a situational thing to sit here and say, until we have passed some type of ordinance that said
- we will never have this, and I'm not even sure you could legally do that, you would never have it. You
- at least have to consider each proposal as it comes through. All right, I'm a three minute timer. My
- name is Andrew Henry. I served on the Rehabilitation Committee. Thank you especially to all the subcommittee
- members, many of whom are here, who gave enormous amounts of time and energy to put together
- all the information that went into our proposal. I have three main points. I would recommend the book
- Strong Towns by Charles Marrone. I've recommended it before. There's a lot of good information in there
- about understanding how towns grow and remain strong over time. The reorganization proposal is a trade-off.
- Anything involving decisions about government and spending are always trade-offs. There is nothing that
- has all upside and no downside. We are weighing different potential options looking into the future.
- What Marrone pointed out in his book is how much local knowledge matters. In the process of being on
- the committee that put together the proposal, I've learned a ton more about the history of Ellisville
- and of Richland Township, the industries, the developments, the school districts, all kinds of things
- that I would not otherwise have known. That knowledge is intensely local and I want to keep our options
- open to use that local knowledge to make good decisions in the future because we have no idea what challenges
- or opportunities will present themselves over the next
- 20 years. The second thing is I want to see this whole area develop even greater long-term financial
- resilience. And that doesn't mean simply that we're trying to make the fastest short-term adjustments
- to tax rates or property taxes or staffing, but aiming at attracting a diversified tax base, especially
- small and medium-sized businesses that are owned locally that provide
- a generous support to the tax base and don't put the same amount of demand on local services like parks,
- roads, fire, and police. We can have a much more diverse and strong tax base over time if we plan well
- for it. And then I have five kids. The chances that all five of them remain in Ellisville are low.
- Not zero, but low. Some of them will probably go other places. But I want Ellisville to be a place that
- they don't simply rule out out of hand. That when they're finishing high school,
- considering a career, considering getting married, starting a family, that they look at Ellsville and
- see opportunities. They see options. And so I look at reorganization and think it is our best current
- option to give local control, to have local knowledge, guide local decisions, to build a town and a
- future for our kids that I want my kids to be excited to be a part of. So I would encourage you, please
- put this before the voters in November or approve it to go to the ballot.
- so that everyone has the opportunity to decide the future of our community. Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you. Sir? Good evening, everyone. My name is Mason Greenberg. I am a Realtor. I serve Monroe County.
- I sit on the Local Realtors Board Government Affairs Committee. So I've had a pulse on this whole process
- for quite a while.
- Thank you all for all the effort you've been putting into it. It's very evident you've been losing a
- lot of sleep, so thank you for that. I don't have anything specifically prepared, but I wanted to just
- share a bit more of a layman's perspective on why this has a really positive light to it, this whole
- scenario. Pretty similar to what was just said, I'll just speak a little more commonly
- When a municipality is not able to maintain itself financially, it's usually because there aren't enough
- taxpayers feeding that municipality. And Bloomington, as a city, has found themselves in that scenario.
- And by virtue of that, it seems that Ellisville is now being handed an opportunity to fill the huge necessity
- to provide opportunities for new companies to come in and provide more opportunities for people to want
- to stay and build a life in Ellisville. I've been an Indiana resident for eight years. I've spent time
- working on campus, getting my master's degree at IU, and then now becoming a resident of Ellisville.
- just shy of two years, a decade of being here, I've seen some changes in both the housing and just general
- economy of Bloomington. And I remember not knowing what the heck Ellisville was eight years ago. And
- even in this time period, seeing the growth that Ellisville seems to have around it, the momentum that's
- building around here. So I can certainly empathize with
- hesitations around what type of businesses might be brought. However, I would encourage all
- of our constituents to remember that Ellisville is a resilient town. It's very proud of the culture
- and the history that has brought us to where we are now. And I'm proud to call myself a resident here.
- And so I'm very excited that this is being brought to a ballot and that the people who live here
- are being given a choice to make a pivotal change and hopefully a step forward in what Ellisville is
- capable of. Thank you. Thank you so much. Anyone else? Is it okay if I speak from here? Sure. I'm just,
- I'm speaking, basically,
- as a resident of Richland Township. I was born here a long time ago. On Chester Drive, I've always considered
- myself, when somebody asks me where I live, I live in Ellingsville. No matter where I've lived, I've
- lived a few different places, but most of it's been in either Ellingsville or Richland Township. And
- I can tell you that I really would like, there's been the Township Board, the Town Board,
- I think both of them have done a wonderful job in the places I've lived as far as managing our tax dollars
- and the way we proceed with municipalities and govern, you know, as a whole. And I think it's a great
- opportunity for all of us that live here in Richland Township, because I consider it the people
- of Neltsville, obviously, and Richland Township as well. I just want the opportunity to vote yes.
- because that's what I'm going to vote for. And so I can really say I'm from Ellisville and my address
- will be probably still a Bloomington address, but I will be in the town limits. But I'm proud of what
- we've done. If you've been working here in the town for 31 years, we've made great progress. There's
- great opportunity and growth. I can remember at 10 o'clock at night when I was a kid,
- hardly a car going through town, so I hope you offer me the opportunity to vote come November. Thanks.
- I'm Dan O'Rourke, and I've been a Bristol township, an Elksfield resident since 1963.
- I'm proud of everything that Ellsfield has done, the way they've progressed. And if anybody's been around
- as long as I haven't seen what it was when I got here and what it is now, you wouldn't even recognize
- the same thing. I think it's wonderful. I live in a township. However, I am annexing into town. So whatever
- happens here, I'm going to be in town anyway. But I think no matter which side of this you're on, if
- you're for it or against it,
- the only fair thing is to give everybody the opportunity to vote on it. And to not let the residents
- have their say, I think would be totally unfair to not let this go on the ballot. So I would just really
- appreciate it if this could go on the ballot and give people the right to say up or down. Thank you,
- sir. Thank you. Anyone else?
- Anyone wishing to speak? Seeing none, we'll now move forward. Council, do you wanna take opportunity
- to comment or do you wanna move forward with the agenda? Move forward. Okay. I would just like to thank
- everybody for being here and in the comments. Ms. Brown, how do you wanna proceed? Do we need to read
- both of these plans or how are we gonna go for this as far as the things that were essentially on first
- reading tonight?
- question to the board would be, are there any changes that you would like to see made to the plan, or
- are you satisfied with them? If there are any changes, I could make those before the next meeting, but
- if you're satisfied with them. Okay, so, all right then. Moving on, is that okay, Scott? Absolutely.
- All right, so, as I stated,
- There are two resolutions that are up for first reading this evening. The first is resolution 11, 2026,
- which is the town council's resolution adopting the plan of reorganization. The township also has a
- resolution dated June 22nd, 2026, whereby board adopts the plan of reorganization. And the resolutions
- are similar.
- or they're identical actually, but they go through the history of how the proposed reorganization got
- started. Each resolution states that a cross section of the citizens were appointed to make recommendations
- that the town and township directed Baker Tilley to prepare fiscal impact analysis. It goes on to state
- when the public hearings were held and when notice was posted in the paper. And then finally, if the boards
- Approve the reorganization plan at the next meeting the boards will sign the resolutions and the resolution
- the plan will go to the auditor recorder voter registration office DLGF and the clerk of the Monroe
- County Circuit Court Questions from the council about those two All right So our next meeting and final
- meeting I would assume
- is scheduled for June 22nd, 2026. It's a joint public meeting on both of these boards on the plan of
- reorganization. The boards may reject it, modify it, or adopt the plan of reorganization at which point
- in time it would then be pushed to the voters in November. That meeting is scheduled again for June
- 22nd, 2026 at 6.45 p.m. Please note the difference in times. Where we've been normally starting at 6.30,
- this is 15 minutes later.
- Is there any additional public comment before we adjourn the meeting? In addition, council comments.
- Town manager, would you like to say anything? No, I wouldn't like to say anything, but I guess I will
- anyway. So I think there's a lot of technical aspects to all of this that can be confusing and complex.
- You know, it can be misconstrued why this is happening. Originally, the state legislator passed a law
- that affected how we did our business as a town. And so we reacted to that. And we, in a business-like
- manner, took some good advice, looked into reorganization. I think it should be noted
- that we were told right off the bat that there won't be a lot of extra money moved from pot A to pot
- B. It's not a money grab. The fact is when this all came down as it is today, the town's in good financial
- position. Some of the law or legislation, if you will, the SCA-1, might have affected that in the future
- and as we grow,
- the services need to grow as well, and that might have been affected as well. With that all said, a
- lot of times when there's a problem, people that really will dig in will look for the opportunity in
- that problem. There are many opportunities that presented themselves regarding reorganization.
- We, as a township in a town, have a cultural identity that's the same. Obviously, we have the same fire
- protection. Our kids all go to the same school. Most people, if they don't live in the town boundaries,
- they just say they're from Ellisville anyway. They talk about being from the community, and it's usually
- said in a manner that's prideful.
- We as a local entity, especially Ellisville currently, we have a business friendly attitude when people
- come here and wanna build a house or they come here and wanna do a business, a project, we say what
- can we do to help? We don't say here's how you're gonna go about it and I think
- It reflects in the number of annexations when possible, that a lot of people understand that, and that
- by virtue of annexation, they vote to reorganize at that moment. What we're proposing to do now is a
- compression of what's gonna happen anyway. I think that
- People annex any time they can if they want to build, whatever. And so if they're able to, and so in
- 10 or 15 years or 20 years, all of this is going to come to pass one way or another. And this compression
- of this opportunity because of a problem allows us to maybe get ahead of economic development, which
- means business, and the business
- People have to have employees the employees have to have somewhere to live and so by having The use
- of the whole township which else feels part of by having that Ability to plan for economic development
- in a reasonable way allows us to
- Present the community with housing opportunities more have housing opportunities and it also allows
- businesses won't they won't come here if they can't house or House their employees and it's one of the
- reasons that Moreau County is Is lacking in some of the economic development that they've maybe let
- get past them so we not only have a good
- land use policy that encourages economic development, but we also have really good land that could be
- used for businesses or residential. We have IU, Ivy Tech, and all the high schools and schools in the
- area. They graduate kids, they educate them, and then they go look
- Like Andrea said, a lot of times they have to go look somewhere else to live and thrive because there
- isn't housing or there's not economic development that supports their education. So I think we have
- an opportunity to change that and retain those kids. A lot of them, they're our own kids, especially
- if they come out of high school. And for me, the reason I'm such a big proponent
- on this is I have grandkids, and I'd like for them to be here and be part of the future. So anyway,
- I just think that there's a lot of opportunity in this reorg. It's going to happen one way or another
- through annexation. It's almost a monthly thing where somebody annexes a parcel or a large parcel. There's
- some in the works now, and so reorganization just
- allows this process to move forward. But above all else, I think the best part of this reorganization
- process is it is democratic. You get to vote on it. And so I'm willing to, I think whatever the voters
- decide, that's what everybody ought to adhere to. And the fact that it's a democratic process is the
- best part of this. And so I appeal to
- the township and the town board to vote this through when they can so everybody gets a say. I think
- that was the common denominator tonight. So I appreciate our lawyers who have worked on this,
- Baker Tilly, the reorganization committee, people have put in a ton of time on this and even had to
- worry about
- what we're gonna do in the future and decisions that they make or suggestions they make that may be
- taken up. It's historic, so there's some stress in all this, and so I really appreciate everybody's
- effort in all this, so thank you. Board, have any other comments? If not, I'd like to close with one
- very brief statement, if we can. I think I wanna agree, and I don't think, I know I agree with everybody
- who says put it before the voters.
- Fair thing to do and let's be honest as you've heard this plan unfold and as you've read it for most
- of you It doesn't offer anything. You don't have it really doesn't it offers you almost zero But let's
- also be honest about that How many of you are gonna need the police department tonight? Hopefully no
- one how many of you're gonna need the fire department? Hopefully no one how many of you need your road
- plow tonight? Hopefully no one
- and we can go on and on and on. We're not promising you anything you don't already have. What we're
- promising you is that this board will be responsive to you. All of us live in this area. All of us live
- in the considered consolidation area. We're all in this together. For some of you, you're going to benefit
- more than others. Some of you, I'll just be honest with you, one away from the city of Bloomington.
- You don't want to be annexed. This prevents that. Some of you don't want
- a larger body telling you how you can use your land. This prevents that. Some of you will benefit greatly.
- Some of you will pay no additional taxes whatsoever. Some of you will pay more. But what it remains
- down to is what are you buying for your dollars? You're buying insurance. Simple as that. You are buying
- insurance. That if you call 911, Eltsville PD shows up. If you call 911, Eltsville Fire shows up. If
- you need your street plow,
- Elseville shows up. If you need something done at your house and permission to do something with your
- land, you come to this board and ask about it. You don't have to go to somebody far removed from you
- that has no accountability whatsoever. You are buying insurance if you vote for consolidation, and that's
- all you're buying, and I hope you don't have to use any of it. It's a reason we all have life insurance.
- It's a reason all of our houses are insured. That's all you're buying. You're not getting anything you
- don't already have. The question is, do you want that insurance on the hook?
- for the day you need it. That's my two cents. Anyone else? Seeing nothing further, we'll stand adjourned.