WEBVTT 00:00:00.418 --> 00:00:09.791 - Now call to order the joint meeting of the Richland Township Board and the Town Council of Ellensville, 00:00:09.791 --> 00:00:19.704 - Indiana, Monroe County. This is May 27th, 2026. We'll now do the roll call for members of both organizations, 00:00:19.704 --> 00:00:28.446 - starting at the far end. Jay Thrasher, Richland Township. David, we're all in Richland Township. 00:00:28.834 --> 00:00:38.098 - John Donnell, Richland Township. Scott Oldham, Ellsfield. William Ellis, town of Ellsfield. Trevor Sager, 00:00:38.098 --> 00:00:47.013 - town of Ellsfield. Candice Wofford, town of Ellsfield. Now the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge 00:00:47.013 --> 00:00:55.753 - allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one 00:00:55.753 --> 00:00:58.462 - nation under God, indivisible, 00:00:58.658 --> 00:01:08.929 - with liberty and justice for all. Dear Lord, bless this meeting. Bless us with the wisdom to make the 00:01:08.929 --> 00:01:19.402 - right decisions for the people we represent. And bless us with humility and wisdom. In your name, amen. 00:01:19.402 --> 00:01:20.510 - Ms. Brown. 00:01:26.434 --> 00:01:33.567 - since last November 10th and on that date the Richland Township Board passed a resolution indicating 00:01:33.567 --> 00:01:40.911 - a willingness to explore a reorganization of the town of Ellensville under the Government Modernization 00:01:40.911 --> 00:01:48.539 - Act. The town responded on November 24th by passing its own resolution agreeing to explore a reorganization 00:01:48.539 --> 00:01:51.646 - of the town. Thereafter each ward appointed 00:01:51.778 --> 00:01:58.733 - representatives to form a reorganization committee, and that consisted of seven members. And over this 00:01:58.733 --> 00:02:05.486 - past winter and spring, the reorganization committee held several public meetings to discuss what a 00:02:05.486 --> 00:02:12.577 - reorganization between the township and the town might look like. Early on in the process, subcommittees 00:02:12.577 --> 00:02:19.870 - were formed from a cross-section of citizens, township employees, and town employees, and each subcommittee 00:02:20.002 --> 00:02:27.781 - took responsibility for taking one aspect of government and preparing a subcommittee report on that 00:02:27.781 --> 00:02:35.638 - one aspect of government and how that would look if the reorganization passes. And each subcommittee 00:02:35.638 --> 00:02:43.650 - prepared written reports. They were presented to the reorganization committee at the end of March, 1st 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:48.862 - of April. These subcommittees included finance, local governments, 00:02:49.154 --> 00:02:55.623 - public safety, planning and zoning, parks, recreation, cemeteries, street department and road maintenance, 00:02:55.623 --> 00:03:02.032 - water, sewer, and stormwater, and services provided by the former township. And in each of those reports, 00:03:02.032 --> 00:03:08.259 - the subcommittees looked at budget and staffing, addressed some capital improvement projects, what the 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:14.547 - new government would look like if it passed, how many town council members, how the transition planning 00:03:14.547 --> 00:03:15.998 - and zoning from a town, 00:03:16.514 --> 00:03:23.004 - to 6,000 to a town of 15,000. And I know I said this at a previous meeting, but I'd like to reiterate 00:03:23.004 --> 00:03:29.686 - that I thought the subcommittees did an excellent job on the reports. I thought they were very thorough, 00:03:29.686 --> 00:03:36.112 - and I liked everything about them, the language, the graphics, the maps, everything. And I liked the 00:03:36.112 --> 00:03:42.666 - history that was put in some of those reports. So in any event, the subcommittees present their report 00:03:42.666 --> 00:03:44.766 - to the reorganization committee. 00:03:44.962 --> 00:03:51.015 - The reorganization committee approved a draft plan of reorganization on April 9th, and that has been 00:03:51.015 --> 00:03:57.608 - on the ellisvillerichlandinfo.org website since about that time. And as you're aware, that's a recommendation 00:03:57.608 --> 00:04:03.902 - to both boards as to how the reorganization can move forward, because ultimately the obligation to draft 00:04:03.902 --> 00:04:09.955 - the reorganization plan rests with both the governmental boards. And throughout this entire process, 00:04:09.955 --> 00:04:10.974 - Baker-Tilley has 00:04:11.298 --> 00:04:18.147 - greatly assisted us by attending meetings, giving PowerPoint presentations, coming to Ellensville to 00:04:18.147 --> 00:04:25.267 - meet in person with town employees, township employees, and answering multiple questions over the phone. 00:04:25.267 --> 00:04:32.319 - And Baker Tilley has presented a fiscal plan, which is what you're going to be looking at this evening. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:39.710 - And so we are here in our series of final meetings, and the purpose of this evening's meeting is to consider 00:04:40.098 --> 00:04:48.136 - preliminary approval of a fiscal plan, and the Indiana Code requires the boards, the reorganizing entities, 00:04:48.136 --> 00:04:55.803 - to approve a fiscal plan prior to adopting a reorganization plan. So what you have in your packets are 00:04:55.803 --> 00:05:03.692 - proposed resolutions to be considered by the Township Board and the Town Council, and if those are passed 00:05:03.692 --> 00:05:04.734 - this evening, 00:05:04.898 --> 00:05:11.448 - Those resolutions will go to the Department of Environmental Finance along with the draft of the fiscal 00:05:11.448 --> 00:05:17.306 - plan for the DLGS review. So Paige Sandstone from Baker Tilly is here, and I believe she has 00:05:17.306 --> 00:05:23.667 - two presentations. The first of which is a PowerPoint presentation on reorganization generally, what 00:05:23.667 --> 00:05:29.398 - that looks like for the citizens, and then the fiscal plan, which will go to the DLGS. And 00:05:29.398 --> 00:05:34.878 - if your reorganization plan is adopted, that will be part of your reorganization plan. 00:05:36.418 --> 00:05:45.544 - Okay. Questions from this part. Okay. Baker Tilly. Thank you. My PowerPoint presentation that will actually 00:05:45.544 --> 00:05:51.966 - summarize that fiscal plan, but there is a separate separate plan document. 00:05:52.290 --> 00:06:00.764 - that goes along with that. But I've tried to incorporate it into this presentation. So really, the intent 00:06:00.764 --> 00:06:09.078 - of the presentation really is to present the fiscal plan to you. But we felt that it was very important 00:06:09.078 --> 00:06:17.073 - to provide some background and some context. So I am going to summarize the reorganization plan for 00:06:17.073 --> 00:06:21.150 - you as well. So starting on, make sure this works. 00:06:21.762 --> 00:06:28.873 - So the purpose of the reorganization is to improve government efficiency, enhance the coordination of 00:06:28.873 --> 00:06:36.194 - services, increase flexibility and local control, and improve planning and transparency. It will further 00:06:36.194 --> 00:06:43.166 - support growth throughout the community. So this is intended to support the long-term goals of your 00:06:43.166 --> 00:06:50.974 - community. The overall concept is to create a more coordinated and sustainable local government structure while 00:06:51.106 --> 00:06:59.646 - preserving the representation and service responsiveness for both the urban and rural proportions of 00:06:59.646 --> 00:07:08.186 - the area. So at its core, the proposal would reorganize Richland Township and the town of Ellisville 00:07:08.186 --> 00:07:16.726 - into a unified government structure. If approved by voters, the reorganization will become effective 00:07:16.726 --> 00:07:20.446 - January 1st of 2027. This means the current 00:07:20.866 --> 00:07:29.874 - separate township government structure would transition into the consolidated governmental model administered 00:07:29.874 --> 00:07:38.472 - through the town. Today, the town and the township operates as separate governmental units with separate 00:07:38.472 --> 00:07:47.480 - budgets for administration and services. Under the proposed structure, there would be one unified government, 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:49.118 - one governing body, 00:07:49.218 --> 00:07:57.999 - in a more coordinated budgeting and administrative structure. The intent is to reduce duplication, improve 00:07:57.999 --> 00:08:06.205 - service coordination, and create a more streamlined approach to governance. The proposed governance 00:08:06.205 --> 00:08:14.740 - structure includes a seven member town council. This would include five district seats and two at large 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.694 - seats during the transition period. 00:08:18.402 --> 00:08:26.508 - The township government would be dissolved, but representation for both the urban and rural areas would 00:08:26.508 --> 00:08:34.458 - continue through the district structure. The goal is to maintain local representation while improving 00:08:34.458 --> 00:08:42.642 - coordination across the consolidated area. The reorganized government would continue providing key local 00:08:42.642 --> 00:08:48.254 - services, including police and fire protection, roads and public works, 00:08:48.642 --> 00:08:57.979 - parks and recreation, planning and zoning, and public assistance services previously administered through 00:08:57.979 --> 00:09:06.787 - the township will continue to be provided by the town. The intent is to not eliminate services, but 00:09:06.787 --> 00:09:15.684 - to improve coordination and long-term service delivery. The proposal establishes two primary service 00:09:15.684 --> 00:09:18.238 - districts, an urban district 00:09:18.594 --> 00:09:26.774 - in a rural district. The urban district would generally reflect the current town boundaries and continue 00:09:26.774 --> 00:09:34.799 - to receive the full complement of municipal services. The rural district would include former township 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:42.590 - areas where service delivery would remain tailored to the lower density rural conditions and needs. 00:09:43.810 --> 00:09:52.882 - The structure is intended to balance fairness, service expectations, and tax impacts. This slide outlines 00:09:52.882 --> 00:10:01.612 - which services and tax bases would apply across the different service areas. Certain services such as 00:10:01.612 --> 00:10:07.518 - police and debt service would remain specific to the urban district. 00:10:08.002 --> 00:10:16.474 - Other services including fire protection parks and recreation and general administration would apply 00:10:16.474 --> 00:10:25.282 - across the broader consolidated area. This framework isn't is again intended to align taxes more closely 00:10:25.282 --> 00:10:31.070 - with the services that are currently provided. So why two districts. 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:39.185 - The two-district structure serves several important purposes that I've reiterated or I'm going to reiterate 00:10:39.185 --> 00:10:46.594 - here. It matches the taxes with the service levels. It allows phased growth and expansion. It preserves 00:10:46.594 --> 00:10:53.932 - the rural character and expectations. And it supports long-term infrastructure planning. This approach 00:10:53.932 --> 00:11:01.342 - recognizes the urban and rural areas often have two different service demands and infrastructure needs. 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:14.851 - So these next slides that we'll go through summarize several plan service enhancements and operational 00:11:14.851 --> 00:11:22.664 - updates. So some of the public safety enhancements include increased police staffing over time, additional 00:11:22.664 --> 00:11:30.185 - firefighter staffing, maintaining and improving response times, and addressing growing service demand. 00:11:30.185 --> 00:11:36.318 - The proposal also includes unified planning and zoning authority, updated land use, 00:11:36.514 --> 00:11:45.073 - planning, coordinated development policies, and expanded responsibility for roads and infrastructure 00:11:45.073 --> 00:11:53.546 - maintenance. The township services will include public assistance programs, and that will continue. 00:11:53.546 --> 00:12:02.274 - Cemetery maintenance and community services would remain in place, and township staff would transition 00:12:02.274 --> 00:12:05.918 - into the town structure where appropriate. 00:12:06.018 --> 00:12:15.203 - There are no immediate changes proposed right now for utilities or stormwater operations in 2027. This 00:12:15.203 --> 00:12:24.923 - slide summarizes the proposed staffing additions associated with the reorganization. The largest investments 00:12:24.923 --> 00:12:34.910 - are focused on fire, police, streets and infrastructure, planning, parks, and public assistance administration. 00:12:35.074 --> 00:12:42.592 - The total estimated annual staffing impact is approximately $2.7 million. These additions are intended 00:12:42.592 --> 00:12:50.110 - to support the future growth, improve service delivery, and strengthen long-term operational capacity. 00:12:54.178 --> 00:13:01.433 - So now we're getting into more of the fiscal impact analysis portion of this presentation. The next 00:13:01.433 --> 00:13:09.050 - few slides summarize the financial analysis supporting the proposed reorganization. So slide 15 compares 00:13:09.050 --> 00:13:16.958 - the current or town and then the township rule property tax rates and levies. So you can see from this slide 00:13:17.058 --> 00:13:26.092 - slide that the town currently levies a rate of .6160, which generates approximately $3.3 million of 00:13:26.092 --> 00:13:35.669 - property tax. The township levies a rate of .1644, which generates approximately $1.3 million in property 00:13:35.669 --> 00:13:39.102 - tax. So that's the current structure. 00:13:41.218 --> 00:13:47.599 - We also need to let you know about any outstanding debt that is property tax supported. So Richland 00:13:47.599 --> 00:13:54.172 - Township does not have any outstanding debt that's property tax supported. The town does have two debt 00:13:54.172 --> 00:14:00.553 - issuances that are property tax supported. One is a lease rental bond that matures in 2033, and the 00:14:00.553 --> 00:14:04.190 - other is a general obligation bond that matures in 2036. 00:14:04.290 --> 00:14:13.898 - But it is very important to note that these existing town debt issuances will remain with the current 00:14:13.898 --> 00:14:23.788 - town taxpayers and township residents would not assume any existing town debt obligations. The projected 00:14:23.788 --> 00:14:29.534 - combined budget for this reorganized entity is 11.3 million. 00:14:30.338 --> 00:14:39.919 - This analysis assumes that there will be a reduction in administrative duplication. There will be increased 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:49.410 - investment in public safety and infrastructure. There will be continued township services and conservative 00:14:49.410 --> 00:14:56.862 - revenue growth assumptions. Based on current assumptions, the proposed funding plan 00:14:56.962 --> 00:15:05.500 - is sustainable as supported by the projected revenue. So here on this slide we do have a four year kind 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:13.710 - of net cash flow graphic that shows that it is a sustainable budget. There are enough revenues that 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:16.830 - will fund the plan of reorganization. 00:15:17.154 --> 00:15:24.681 - This analysis also assumes gradual levy growth, which all taxing units get in the state on an annual 00:15:24.681 --> 00:15:32.581 - basis, static debt service, so no change in debt service, conservative revenue assumptions, and an annual 00:15:32.581 --> 00:15:36.382 - operational inflation adjustment for the expenses. 00:15:40.802 --> 00:15:49.383 - This slide shows the projected property tax levy and tax rates of the reorganized town. So this is what 00:15:49.383 --> 00:15:57.634 - the setup would look like. So basically the property tax rate in the urban area would be .7028. The 00:15:57.634 --> 00:16:01.182 - tax rate in the rural area would be .2776. 00:16:02.338 --> 00:16:12.238 - These tax rates would generate approximately $6.1 million in property tax revenue for the reorganized 00:16:12.238 --> 00:16:22.138 - town of Ellisville. So one of the important questions is how the reorganization may affect taxpayers. 00:16:22.138 --> 00:16:25.438 - The estimated average impacts are 00:16:25.538 --> 00:16:33.176 - a 6.9% increase for properties located in Richland Township, a 3.5% increase for properties located 00:16:33.176 --> 00:16:41.426 - in Ellitsville Bean Blossom, so the portion of Ellitsville that's in Bean Blossom Township, and then a 4.1% 00:16:41.426 --> 00:16:49.141 - increase to the portion of Ellitsville that's in Richland Township. It's important to emphasize that 00:16:49.141 --> 00:16:50.974 - some properties may see 00:16:51.138 --> 00:17:00.631 - smaller increases or perhaps even little to no increase, depending on if the property is hitting the 00:17:00.631 --> 00:17:10.217 - property tax caps. So in this slide, we've illustrated the potential impact to some sample properties 00:17:10.217 --> 00:17:16.702 - here. So for a residential property ranging from 150,000 to 300,000, 00:17:17.026 --> 00:17:23.316 - If that property is located in Richland Township, we're expecting an increase between $5 to $12 per 00:17:23.316 --> 00:17:29.732 - month. That's a monthly increase. For the town of Ellitsville, the increase could be anywhere between 00:17:29.732 --> 00:17:36.211 - $3 to $5. However, again, I want to reiterate that if your property is at the property tax caps, there 00:17:36.211 --> 00:17:39.230 - will be little to no increase in your tax bill. 00:17:39.618 --> 00:17:46.877 - We also have an illustration of the farmland and residential rental properties, and we just picked a 00:17:46.877 --> 00:17:54.064 - value between $500,000 and a million dollars. Those increases in Richland Township would range from 00:17:54.064 --> 00:18:01.323 - $18 to $89, for Ellitsville Town between $6 and $29. And then the last classification of property is 00:18:01.323 --> 00:18:08.222 - commercial and all other property, which would include personal property, the same price range, 00:18:08.418 --> 00:18:19.061 - thousand to a million, you're looking at between a $47 and $94 increase for Richland Township, Ellitsville 00:18:19.061 --> 00:18:29.008 - $36 to $72. So you probably wonder, okay, well, how can I estimate my property tax bill? So we have 00:18:29.008 --> 00:18:37.662 - an easy three-step process if you wanna estimate how this might impact you. So one is, 00:18:37.762 --> 00:18:44.821 - find your current property tax bill. And to do that, you can go to the Monroe County property tax portal, 00:18:44.821 --> 00:18:51.481 - or you can review the most recent statement that you received in the mail that would show what your 00:18:51.481 --> 00:18:58.207 - property taxes are due for this entire year. So for this illustration, just for example, we're going 00:18:58.207 --> 00:18:59.006 - to say that 00:18:59.298 --> 00:19:05.317 - Your property tax bill is $1,800 currently before reorganization. So now you need to identify where 00:19:05.317 --> 00:19:11.577 - is your property located? Is it in Richland Township unincorporated? Is it in the portion of Ellisville 00:19:11.577 --> 00:19:18.018 - that's in Richland Township or the portion of Ellisville that's in Bean Blossom? Those are three different 00:19:18.018 --> 00:19:24.278 - taxing districts. There is a corresponding percentage change to your tax bill depending on which taxing 00:19:24.278 --> 00:19:25.662 - district it's located. 00:19:26.338 --> 00:19:34.152 - So 6.9% for Richland, for example. 4.1% for Ellitsville, Richland, and 3.5% for Ellitsville, Bean Blossom. 00:19:34.152 --> 00:19:41.820 - So once you figure out where it's located, now you just take that current tax bill, 1,800 as an example, 00:19:41.820 --> 00:19:49.561 - and apply the appropriate percentage. So if we assume that this property is located in Richland Township, 00:19:49.561 --> 00:19:55.038 - and the bill is $1,800 right now, we're gonna apply that 6.9% increase or, 00:19:55.202 --> 00:20:04.406 - 0.069, so 1,800 times 0.069 equals an annual increase of $124. If you divide that by 12, that's $10 00:20:04.406 --> 00:20:13.609 - per month. So anyone should be able to use this three-step process to determine the impact on their 00:20:13.609 --> 00:20:15.358 - property tax bill. 00:20:18.370 --> 00:20:26.434 - Now we need to look at the next few slides, which will explain how the property tax caps here in Indiana, 00:20:26.434 --> 00:20:34.193 - also known as circuit breaker credits, may affect both the taxpayers and the overlapping taxing units 00:20:34.193 --> 00:20:41.876 - in these three taxing districts. So this slide just shows a summary of the property tax credits here 00:20:41.876 --> 00:20:48.190 - in Indiana. We have three classifications of property tax credits. One, Homestead. 00:20:48.482 --> 00:20:55.163 - So your residential, your main residential homestead property is capped at 1% of the gross assessed 00:20:55.163 --> 00:21:01.912 - value. Other residential property and farmland is capped at 2% of your gross assessed value. And the 00:21:01.912 --> 00:21:08.727 - commercial property is capped at 3%. So as an example, if I have a $100,000 residential homestead and 00:21:08.727 --> 00:21:09.662 - my cap is 1%, 00:21:10.210 --> 00:21:17.575 - I shouldn't pay more than $1,000, but there are a few exceptions. If schools have a voter referendum 00:21:17.575 --> 00:21:25.085 - to approve a new debt, I could perhaps pay above that because those are exempted from Circuit Breaker. 00:21:25.085 --> 00:21:32.523 - So how this works is if when the county calculates the tax bill, if it exceeds the cap, then a credit 00:21:32.523 --> 00:21:36.606 - is applied so that my tax bill does not exceed the cap. 00:21:36.866 --> 00:21:44.653 - Since reorganization reallocates the property tax levy, it may cause an increase in property tax rates. 00:21:44.653 --> 00:21:52.214 - If the calculated tax bill, as I stated before, is above the cap, the taxpayer does not pay the full 00:21:52.214 --> 00:21:59.776 - rate increase because the tax cap limits the bill. That's why I said earlier, some taxpayers may not 00:21:59.776 --> 00:22:02.846 - even be impacted by this reorganization. 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:11.235 - But those taxpayers that are impacted, there is an impact on the overlapping taxing units. So when circuit 00:22:11.235 --> 00:22:18.024 - breaker credits increase, meaning more taxpayers receive credits, local government may receive less 00:22:18.024 --> 00:22:24.814 - property tax revenue because there's larger credits that are applied. And overlapping units such as 00:22:24.814 --> 00:22:30.110 - schools, libraries, and counties can also experience revenue impacts as well. 00:22:31.138 --> 00:22:39.322 - So our fiscal analysis does include estimated impacts to the overlapping taxing units, and it also includes 00:22:39.322 --> 00:22:47.203 - future scenarios as well. So in slide 26, you can see the units that are impacted, and you can see that 00:22:47.203 --> 00:22:55.008 - Ellisville town will be impacted the most, not surprising. Ellisville is the one that is reorganizing, 00:22:55.008 --> 00:22:58.494 - along with Richland Township. So that is the, 00:22:58.850 --> 00:23:05.936 - The credits for Ellisville will increase by about 145,000, meaning there's gonna be a reduction in property 00:23:05.936 --> 00:23:12.563 - tax revenue of that amount. We've built that into the analysis. The reorganized town will be able to 00:23:12.563 --> 00:23:19.190 - compensate for that, but it's something that the town needs to be aware of. If you look at the other 00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:26.145 - taxing units, it's somewhat minor increases. For the school, we would expect an increase of those credits 00:23:26.145 --> 00:23:27.326 - of about $23,000. 00:23:27.522 --> 00:23:34.222 - For the county, it's about $8,000. So you can see there are really minimal increases except for the 00:23:34.222 --> 00:23:37.438 - town, and the town is aware of those increases. 00:23:39.522 --> 00:23:46.226 - And then we've tried to project that out in future years only because it's not that you're phasing anything 00:23:46.226 --> 00:23:52.869 - in. We know that this would start in 2027, but you need to see the future years because of the legislative 00:23:52.869 --> 00:23:59.139 - changes that phase in through 2031. So we wanted to kind of give you a feeling for what might happen 00:23:59.139 --> 00:24:03.422 - to the circuit breakers going forward in future years, not caused by 00:24:03.586 --> 00:24:12.412 - by the reorganization just simply caused by the phase in of homestead credits and other property tax 00:24:12.412 --> 00:24:21.501 - credits throughout the years. So what's next? The next phase of this process includes several important 00:24:21.501 --> 00:24:24.734 - milestones. One is a public hearing. 00:24:25.506 --> 00:24:34.102 - There will be some legislative approvals. We are going to submit the fiscal impact analysis to the Department 00:24:34.102 --> 00:24:41.526 - of Local Government Finance for their review and ultimately a public vote in November of 2026. 00:24:41.526 --> 00:24:47.934 - And of course, if this is approved, then it would be effective January 1st, 2027. 00:24:49.346 --> 00:24:58.088 - It's important to note that a separate majority approval is required for both town voters and township 00:24:58.088 --> 00:25:06.575 - voters. In other words, both groups must independently approve the proposal for it to move forward. 00:25:06.575 --> 00:25:15.147 - Some key takeaways to summarize the proposed reorganization and the fiscal plan is that, again, this 00:25:15.147 --> 00:25:17.438 - reorganization creates one 00:25:17.634 --> 00:25:25.999 - coordinated local government entity. It preserves the representation for both urban and rural areas. 00:25:25.999 --> 00:25:34.695 - It proposes to improve public safety, roads, planning, and community services. It reduces administrative 00:25:34.695 --> 00:25:42.398 - duplication. It supports long-term financial sustainability, and it positions the community. 00:25:42.978 --> 00:25:50.664 - and it positions the community for future growth and infrastructure investment. So while we know there 00:25:50.664 --> 00:25:58.499 - are estimated taxpayer impacts associated with this proposal, this analysis indicates that those impacts 00:25:58.499 --> 00:26:06.558 - are generally modest for many property owners, particularly when the tax caps are considered. Now I do have 00:26:06.722 --> 00:26:14.282 - a copy of the fiscal impact analysis. I've covered a majority of it in this presentation, but just quickly, 00:26:14.282 --> 00:26:21.492 - we did review this to ensure that this does meet the requirements pursuant to the Indiana Code. It has 00:26:21.492 --> 00:26:28.702 - all of the relevant data that is needed to be in this fiscal plan, and again, it was summarized in the 00:26:28.702 --> 00:26:33.182 - PowerPoint. In fact, most of the graphs were in the PowerPoint. 00:26:34.914 --> 00:26:43.159 - So that concludes my presentation. Just one for clarity. You kept referring to police. Just for everybody's 00:26:43.159 --> 00:26:51.021 - consideration, that does not mean the police will only respond to current town limits. They will still 00:26:51.021 --> 00:26:58.655 - be responding the entire township. It's just the funding stream to make things easier for everybody 00:26:58.655 --> 00:27:02.014 - will come from the urban component of this. 00:27:02.402 --> 00:27:09.336 - Maybe fully anticipate that the sheriff's department will continue to respond to the rural areas as 00:27:09.336 --> 00:27:16.408 - well So let's reorganize that. Okay, then we need do you need to make an update? Now, let's make that 00:27:16.408 --> 00:27:23.619 - change Okay So that's gonna be an issue that we need to deal with Because again, we were taking it over 00:27:23.619 --> 00:27:30.206 - so sheriff's department doesn't respond to a municipality So we need to do some refigures here 00:27:32.098 --> 00:27:45.276 - I think that needs to be taken under advisement of the Public Safety Committee. Any other questions? 00:27:45.276 --> 00:27:58.715 - Okay, thank you. Where do we go from here, Ms. Brown? We were gonna go to public comment. If you would 00:27:58.715 --> 00:28:00.542 - like to, yes. 00:28:02.178 --> 00:28:08.863 - All right. Well, we'll entertain our members of the public. You have a three-minute time limit. Just 00:28:08.863 --> 00:28:15.946 - as a reminder, this is for your comments, not question answered with the council, but definitely something 00:28:15.946 --> 00:28:22.631 - we'll take into account. So if there's anyone in chambers who wish to speak, please step forward. If 00:28:22.631 --> 00:28:27.198 - you're online, please raise your hand using the raise hand function. 00:28:37.474 --> 00:28:45.469 - Perry would like to speak if we can unmute him and begin his time, please. I think we have a great internet 00:28:45.469 --> 00:28:53.020 - system and the sound from the chambers doesn't come through very well, so it's a little bit difficult 00:28:53.020 --> 00:29:00.720 - to hear. But I sent the Aliceville town councilors a memo earlier today last year with the town manager 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:06.494 - and also with the clerk president. So you all have copies of the three issues 00:29:07.106 --> 00:29:17.506 - And we, myself, and Mr. Sharma, they're present at the meeting today, I believe. Oh, I can't see who's 00:29:17.506 --> 00:29:27.704 - in the audience, but I believe he is. And we raised three issues. One was related to the projections 00:29:27.704 --> 00:29:36.286 - on the fiscal impact, to the projections related to the wheel tax and other revenues 00:29:37.186 --> 00:29:45.992 - Another was where the projections of the Woolcloth income tax, and the third was whether there should 00:29:45.992 --> 00:29:55.230 - be something built into the plan to be more responsive to the shore on the rainy day, which this has done. 00:30:17.186 --> 00:30:26.352 - I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Are you finished? I'm finished. All right. Thank you, sir. I just wanted 00:30:26.352 --> 00:30:35.519 - to call attention to the contents, the mental open. The mental open was even more detailed. All right. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:44.062 - Thank you, sir. Anyone else? Online or in chat? Seeing none, we'll move now to the resolutions. 00:30:47.138 --> 00:30:54.344 - I would note that just in order to save paper, I didn't duplicate copies of the exhibits. The exhibits 00:30:54.344 --> 00:31:01.830 - that would be attached to the resolutions are the same for each one. So that would be one. A, the township 00:31:01.830 --> 00:31:09.176 - resolution authorizing the township board to move forward with a reorganization. Exhibit B is the town's 00:31:09.176 --> 00:31:13.374 - response and its resolution authorizing moving forward with 00:31:13.794 --> 00:31:24.468 - So the first item on the agenda is the Township board's resolution dated May 27, 2026 to preliminarily 00:31:24.468 --> 00:31:35.764 - approve the fiscal impact analysis for the proposed reorganization. Before we do that, may I ask a question? 00:31:35.764 --> 00:31:41.982 - Sure. Paige, with the police protection, we're higher still 00:31:42.114 --> 00:31:49.907 - The public safety plan is hiring three additional officers, correct? And six, I think three right away. 00:31:49.907 --> 00:31:57.626 - And we're going to, right. And the plan for that, we would still be the first responders for the whole 00:31:57.626 --> 00:32:05.344 - township. We would still manage and maintain with the sheriff would be for emergencies like they would 00:32:05.344 --> 00:32:07.742 - be for the city of Bloomington. 00:32:11.842 --> 00:32:19.094 - provided to me is that the only the urban would be taxed the police. Oh, that's correct. Right. If you 00:32:19.094 --> 00:32:26.346 - all want to continue to provide police protection, town police protection outside of the current urban 00:32:26.346 --> 00:32:33.386 - area, that's up to you. Is there anybody from the Public Safety Committee here today? No. I do know 00:32:33.386 --> 00:32:40.638 - that that was when we talked about it and the intention was always for us to cover the whole township. 00:32:40.834 --> 00:32:47.108 - What our fiscal analysis shows is the tax rate for the police will only be in the urban area. OK. So 00:32:47.108 --> 00:32:53.507 - that's not saying just because the tax rate's there. But you can't respond outside of there. Does that 00:32:53.507 --> 00:32:59.719 - answer your question a little bit better, Scott? You have a concern? As long as they're getting the 00:32:59.719 --> 00:33:04.254 - people they need, because this, again, guys, it goes to fairness. Right. 00:33:04.770 --> 00:33:10.494 - Stream is coming from the urban I can support that but just to put out there. Well, we're gonna do all 00:33:10.494 --> 00:33:16.050 - this and the sheriff's still gonna respond That's disingenuous. So we can't go down that road So we 00:33:16.050 --> 00:33:21.829 - need to make it clear to everybody that police protection will be for the entire township because it'll 00:33:21.829 --> 00:33:27.386 - be one unified town So it's not like we're gonna segment off. You're gonna get this service. You're 00:33:27.386 --> 00:33:33.221 - not gonna get this service That's not fair either. So just in the interest of fairness I needed to bring 00:33:33.221 --> 00:33:34.110 - this up because 00:33:34.466 --> 00:33:40.480 - Otherwise, it's being disingenuous up front and calls into question everything else we've done. So for 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:46.436 - everybody's understanding, all services go to all members of the new town, not just segments thereof. 00:33:46.436 --> 00:33:52.392 - So fire will respond to the entire township, police will respond to the entire township, public works 00:33:52.392 --> 00:33:58.523 - will respond to the entire township. So it's not, even though there's two different taxing rates, that's 00:33:58.523 --> 00:34:03.486 - to get everything fair to begin with, not withholding services or providing services 00:34:04.194 --> 00:34:10.630 - if that makes sense. Am I correct in that? Everything from the Public Safety Committee, Darla, that's 00:34:10.630 --> 00:34:17.065 - your understanding too from the Public Safety Committee, correct? They did not partition and say that 00:34:17.065 --> 00:34:23.753 - public safety stops at town borders or anything like that? No, I think that's correct. Right. And that's, 00:34:23.753 --> 00:34:30.189 - if we were just going to maintain the town and rely on the sheriff, which, I mean, that's not fair to 00:34:30.189 --> 00:34:33.470 - do, we would not have needed to hire any policemen. 00:34:34.690 --> 00:34:47.213 - For the purpose of going through the entire township, okay? No, sorry. I just wanted to make The town's 00:34:47.213 --> 00:34:59.134 - not available to share and agency some Yeah, all right. Yeah, that's where we're getting community 00:34:59.682 --> 00:35:05.489 - Right. And I wanted to clarify that for everybody and not that we have an expectation that sheriff is 00:35:05.489 --> 00:35:11.182 - going to respond to everything outside the current town board. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Okay. So the mutual 00:35:11.182 --> 00:35:16.876 - aid agreements, that's what they're just for fire. No, it's for all of us. Yeah. So, I mean, you're 00:35:16.876 --> 00:35:22.626 - not going to lose any protection, but we're not going to rely on the sheriff's department to be your 00:35:22.626 --> 00:35:26.782 - first point contact and the first officer. Correct. So my question then, 00:35:27.490 --> 00:35:34.501 - I mean, was this taken into consideration? Because I kind of hear conflicting issues here, I mean. So 00:35:34.501 --> 00:35:41.650 - as part of the fiscal analysis, what was taken into consideration is that the police rate, the property 00:35:41.650 --> 00:35:48.798 - tax rate for police will only be charged to the current taxpayers within the current town of Ellsville. 00:35:49.090 --> 00:35:54.543 - How the town decides to provide the service, that's up to you. So if you want to continue to provide 00:35:54.543 --> 00:36:00.158 - that service outside the town, that is totally, that doesn't have anything to do with the fiscal impact 00:36:00.158 --> 00:36:05.557 - analysis. That would probably be deeper within the public safety committee's analysis. It's part of 00:36:05.557 --> 00:36:11.118 - the draft plan to do for the whole township. I will note, though, that all taxpayers within the county 00:36:11.118 --> 00:36:16.624 - pays the rate for share of services. So they could technically respond anywhere within the county. So 00:36:16.624 --> 00:36:18.622 - I was simply saying that the sheriff 00:36:18.786 --> 00:36:30.708 - That was always the intention and it was taken into account from day one either we've never wavered 00:36:30.708 --> 00:36:42.749 - from that So that means that we do have enough staff to handle that. Yeah, correct And would that be 00:36:42.749 --> 00:36:46.206 - all six in the first year or 00:36:48.834 --> 00:36:57.450 - And it's easier to on board three and then keep your working your way from that point forward. And with 00:36:57.450 --> 00:37:05.817 - the amount of calls, three would suffice while we get those up to. Currently, yes. Right. Currently. 00:37:05.817 --> 00:37:14.267 - Well, you know, I know we have a current problem of officers on duty during all three shifts. I mean, 00:37:14.267 --> 00:37:16.670 - this just to me, that's been 00:37:17.250 --> 00:37:24.311 - Okay. We have a couple problems with on leave and whatever else. As we expand our city four times the 00:37:24.311 --> 00:37:31.856 - size, is just one extra officer per shift going to be able to handle all this? From what police is advising, 00:37:31.856 --> 00:37:39.055 - yes, they feel that they can manage it. Here's what we said, or here's what the Public Safety Committee 00:37:39.055 --> 00:37:46.046 - said in its report, which is in the draft report that was approved by the re-organization committee. 00:37:46.946 --> 00:37:52.999 - To ensure adequate law enforcement resources exist in a reorganized town, the police department recommends 00:37:52.999 --> 00:37:58.712 - the addition of 13 full-time positions, 12 full-time sworn officers, and one full-time civilian. And 00:37:58.712 --> 00:38:04.539 - then the next paragraph says the reorganization can be recognized as the significance of the financial 00:38:04.539 --> 00:38:10.365 - impact created by the addition of 13 new positions and suggests a phase-in approach over the next five 00:38:10.365 --> 00:38:15.230 - to seven years. The immediate need is the addition of three full-time sworn officers. 00:38:21.570 --> 00:38:28.109 - And that would give actually more coverage, or at least the same, to what they currently have, because 00:38:28.109 --> 00:38:34.710 - the sheriff doesn't have, they're responsible for all the unincorporated areas, right? Well, guys, this 00:38:34.710 --> 00:38:41.439 - is a bigger issue, but to bring it out, how do I say this appropriately? The number of officers, assuming 00:38:41.439 --> 00:38:47.851 - this were to go through, the number of officers on duty on January 1st, 2027, when this were to take 00:38:47.851 --> 00:38:49.438 - effect if it's voted on, 00:38:49.890 --> 00:38:55.337 - will be no different than what they are right now tonight. Will not change. Will not change. Now that's 00:38:55.337 --> 00:39:00.680 - gonna include staffing from Ellisville, gonna include staffing from the county, include staffing from 00:39:00.680 --> 00:39:06.180 - the city, include staffing from the state police, include staffing from the Indian Department of Natural 00:39:06.180 --> 00:39:11.417 - Resources, from the Steinsville police. It's all one big homogeneous group as it were when it comes 00:39:11.417 --> 00:39:16.760 - to emergencies. Yes, if your mailbox got knocked down it may take an extra hour before somebody comes 00:39:16.760 --> 00:39:17.598 - to talk to you. 00:39:18.274 --> 00:39:23.482 - But if your home's getting broken into, rest assured, the response time will be the same because the 00:39:23.482 --> 00:39:28.691 - numbers will not change. What we're changing in the draft concept, and that's why I was so hot about 00:39:28.691 --> 00:39:33.899 - this, is we're adding more to those numbers over time. Now, that may not reduce the sheriffs at all, 00:39:33.899 --> 00:39:39.056 - so you may have more at that point. It won't reduce the city at all, won't reduce the state at all, 00:39:39.056 --> 00:39:44.264 - won't impose natural resources at all. We're proposing to add more and more and more as time goes on 00:39:44.264 --> 00:39:47.358 - in order to adequately staff the current town and township. 00:39:48.994 --> 00:39:54.158 - That's why it was so important to me to bring out the clarity of, no, it's going to be Ellitsville police 00:39:54.158 --> 00:39:59.128 - responding to the new complete governmental body, not some people get one, some people get the other. 00:39:59.128 --> 00:40:04.097 - I'll be honest with you right now, depending upon what's going on in the rest of the county, you very 00:40:04.097 --> 00:40:09.018 - well may have Ellitsville police responding to something in Steinsville and the county responding to 00:40:09.018 --> 00:40:14.036 - something in Ellitsville or vice versa because of the way the fluid flow works. It's the same with the 00:40:14.036 --> 00:40:16.862 - fire department. If Ellitsville's out on something major, 00:40:17.762 --> 00:40:24.371 - Then Monroe Fire Territory backs them up. City of Bloomington backs them up and vice versa. So your 00:40:24.371 --> 00:40:31.178 - emergency services will not change. And that was the important part for me to get across here is we're 00:40:31.178 --> 00:40:37.920 - not changing anything as far as the current numbers. We're proposing to add two over time. That work, 00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:44.793 - that make sense? Yeah. You said two, three, right? Three immediately. Three immediately. Okay, and then 00:40:44.793 --> 00:40:46.974 - two more over. Well, three more. 00:40:47.458 --> 00:41:03.647 - a lot more than. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah 00:41:03.647 --> 00:41:15.550 - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah 00:41:16.418 --> 00:41:24.071 - to a non-emergency police issue, what are they saying about maintaining roads and snow removal? It would 00:41:24.071 --> 00:41:31.432 - be the same thing. Again, the town would have to take on that responsibility because it would be one 00:41:31.432 --> 00:41:39.012 - town. It will not be town and township. And that's in the plan, too? It's in the plan. They have a plan 00:41:39.012 --> 00:41:45.790 - to cover all the township roads outside of the current town limits. Equipment and personnel? 00:41:46.178 --> 00:41:54.023 - everything's been talked about, and we do have a plan. So the town has a Department of Public Works, 00:41:54.023 --> 00:42:02.101 - not just a street department and utilities department like they used to. So that way in the wintertime, 00:42:02.101 --> 00:42:10.024 - for example, if some of the utilities employees are needed, they can switch over to the roads to help 00:42:10.024 --> 00:42:11.422 - get them cleared. 00:42:11.874 --> 00:42:19.828 - And there is a plan to add some personnel, so it's not like we're going to try to do it with the existing 00:42:19.828 --> 00:42:27.858 - staff. Right. Do we have any numbers of how many people were looking at adding? I think there was actually 00:42:27.858 --> 00:42:35.437 - somewhere in there. I think it's two. Two. And I understand what Jay's saying, too. I just don't see 00:42:35.437 --> 00:42:40.990 - how two people can handle the increased size of this. I just. That's why. 00:42:41.250 --> 00:42:47.961 - You hired us to take care of it. Yeah. Logistically, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, how many people 00:42:47.961 --> 00:42:54.353 - does the county have in the township right now? None. They're all centrally based. No, they do take 00:42:54.353 --> 00:43:00.809 - care of the township. I know. They're all centrally based. Right. But they're not going to take care 00:43:00.809 --> 00:43:07.521 - of Elksville proper, I guess, after this. I mean, so we're going to inherit all those streets and roads. 00:43:07.521 --> 00:43:09.630 - Right. But it's, again, it's the 00:43:10.626 --> 00:43:16.139 - And this is the concept of the police that is the same fires a little different because they've been 00:43:16.139 --> 00:43:21.870 - doing it for 40 years. But the county just doesn't have two people assigned just to this township. Those 00:43:21.870 --> 00:43:27.437 - two people may have to work in Bloomington Township Benton Township Salt Creek whatever that day they 00:43:27.437 --> 00:43:33.004 - may not be immediately available to the township. He's proposing to add to immediately. There is room 00:43:33.004 --> 00:43:37.534 - for some other hires as well. Anybody we hire is going to be able to plow snow so. 00:43:37.762 --> 00:43:46.734 - there'll be more than two people added to the roster of who plows at night. You'd be surprised what 00:43:46.734 --> 00:43:56.154 - we can do with the crews we have now. We've always taken care of you and we will in the future. No buts. 00:43:56.154 --> 00:44:03.870 - We talked to them. They said they do not want to take care of us and we should expect 00:44:04.002 --> 00:44:12.385 - to plan on taking care of ourselves. And so, I just explained we're going to have some other hires and 00:44:12.385 --> 00:44:21.094 - when we hire, we usually hire thinking we have one more plow. That's the whole thing behind the Department 00:44:21.094 --> 00:44:29.396 - of Public Works. We're going to hire two more people, but our plan says we're only going to hire two. 00:44:29.396 --> 00:44:31.838 - So we are going to hire more. 00:44:32.002 --> 00:44:39.375 - The plan also says we have room for contractors. So that's the other thing, too. That's what Sheridan 00:44:39.375 --> 00:44:47.182 - Adams Township did. So if we have a major snow event. For instance, if we hire somebody for parks, there'll 00:44:47.182 --> 00:44:54.483 - be planned snow, too. What's going on right now? I mean, it's all hands on deck. When we had our big 00:44:54.483 --> 00:44:57.374 - snow storm, all of our crews worked and 00:44:57.826 --> 00:45:05.107 - We combined the utilities in the street department. If I remember right, we was plowing sparks at the 00:45:05.107 --> 00:45:12.603 - end of the day, we'd get the job done. But those concerns were heavily weighted and addressed. We talked 00:45:12.603 --> 00:45:19.813 - to, I mean, Kip was involved with it. And I mean- We're definitely not gonna let our mouth over load 00:45:19.813 --> 00:45:23.454 - our butt, so. No, and I mean- We thought about it. 00:45:24.674 --> 00:45:37.318 - Like I said, it gives us flexibility also to hire contractors until we can, if we need more people. 00:45:37.318 --> 00:45:50.341 - And Jay, I didn't mean to cut you off. Go ahead and finish it. I make a motion for the Richland County 00:45:50.341 --> 00:45:53.502 - Trustees Board to accept 00:45:54.210 --> 00:46:05.595 - to approve the resolution for the financial impact analysis for the proposed reorganization of the township 00:46:05.595 --> 00:46:16.137 - and the town of Ellitsville. I'll second the motion. Oh, no, I'll do it, because I'm the secretary. 00:46:16.137 --> 00:46:20.670 - Sorry, we do it different than they do so. 00:46:22.114 --> 00:46:34.530 - I call myself Don Durnall. I vote yes. David Willoughby? Yes. Jay Thrasher? Present. I think we need 00:46:34.530 --> 00:46:40.062 - a vote, don't we? You want a vote? Yeah. No. 00:46:45.442 --> 00:46:55.390 - Moving to the town of Ellsville, and I'll call as a resolution 1026, a preliminary approval of a fiscal 00:46:55.390 --> 00:47:04.573 - impact analysis proposed reorganization. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Motion to second. 00:47:04.573 --> 00:47:13.182 - Scott Holdom? Yes. William Ellis? Yes. Trevor Sater? Yes. Dan Swaffer? No. Motion passes. 00:47:14.914 --> 00:47:22.450 - So both motions have passed. Any comments from anyone before we move forward? I would say almost every 00:47:22.450 --> 00:47:29.914 - one of these concerns raised are in the plans. So I would encourage everybody to look at those plans. 00:47:29.914 --> 00:47:37.231 - Those concerns have been addressed by the subcommittees. And just to be fair for everybody, this is 00:47:37.231 --> 00:47:42.206 - a preliminary approval of a fiscal impact analysis to move forward. 00:47:42.370 --> 00:47:49.155 - This is not the vote to combine both of them That is much later before we ever send it to the taxpayers 00:47:49.155 --> 00:47:55.940 - if it gets sent to the taxpayers So it'll be plenty of times for public comment from this point forward 00:47:55.940 --> 00:48:02.464 - The draft plan is available. Is it not William? I would encourage everyone to read it bring forward 00:48:02.464 --> 00:48:07.422 - any questions or concerns In its in its final form, it's it's available now 00:48:07.842 --> 00:48:14.512 - final draft form I apologize yes subject to modification still correct but yeah it's been out there 00:48:14.512 --> 00:48:21.183 - for anybody okay I mean those are good concerns but the subcommittees they did their job to address 00:48:21.183 --> 00:48:25.118 - those concerns and make sure that they were sure addressed 00:48:25.954 --> 00:48:32.856 - So we have two other meeting dates that are currently listed June 10th 2026 at 630. This is a joint 00:48:32.856 --> 00:48:40.034 - public hearing on a plan of reorganization June 26. I'm sorry June 22nd 2026 at 645 note the difference 00:48:40.034 --> 00:48:47.350 - in time a joint public meeting on the plan of reorganization. This is where the boards will either reject 00:48:47.350 --> 00:48:54.942 - or approve said motions and move them forward. And at that point assuming they are voted up it will go to the 00:48:55.746 --> 00:49:07.688 - Voters as a whole on the November ballot if they are voted down by either board then the motion essentially 00:49:07.688 --> 00:49:18.746 - is over and it will not move forward to the taxpayers Anything further miss Brown mr. Cook anything 00:49:18.746 --> 00:49:24.606 - for you anything from you Special thanks to page for 00:49:25.314 --> 00:49:32.650 - always being diligent and getting all this put together. It really makes a really hard process a lot 00:49:32.650 --> 00:49:40.350 - easier because of their work. Any more board comments from anyone? Seeing no further, we stand adjourned.