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Unification Update - July 2005 by Fred Padget

The City/County Unification Study Group recently held public meetings at the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fairgrounds and The Centre to gain further input and suggestions regarding the current proposal for Unified Government. Although attendance could have been better considering the magnitude and seriousness of the subject, much input was provided. While some were quite negative, many spoke in favor of the proposed change. Many who spoke were looking for a more detailed explanation of the plan. In this regard, the proposal intentionally leaves much of the decision making to the proposed restructured government. As quoted in the preamble to the proposal, “While the committee believes that significant cost savings can be achieved by further restructuring local government, it recommends that the power to do this be vested in the unified metropolitan mayor and council. This permits the metropolitan government to manage the necessary transitions on an incremental basis, which will be more cost efficient and offer less chance of disruptions in service than mandated structural changes.”

I’ve recently been asked many questions dealing with specific issues such as the ability to continue hunting and the use of firearms in the county, the status of Burdette Park and other similar matters. At this point, I don’t have a definitive answer. There are some provisions in the proposal that might lead to an answer such as “Unless repealed or amended by the Metro Council, all existing City of Evansville ordinances will remain in effect for the area within the former city limits of Evansville and Vanderburgh County ordinances will remain in effect for the area outside the former city limits.” However, “all departments which had been created by ordinance of the former City of Evansville Council or the Vanderburgh County Commissioners shall be administered through the executive powers of the Metro Mayor and subject to ordinance by the Metro Council.” Further, “All agencies created by state or federal statute, which were the responsibility of the former City of Evansville and the former Vanderburgh County will be the responsibility of the Metro Government.” And, “The Metro Council shall have the power to reorganize all aspects of local government within the boundaries of the City subject only to the requirements of the Indiana State Constitution“. Based on this, it appears that things created by ordinance remain until possibly changed by the new Metro Mayor or the Metro Council. In effect, anything created by the current city or county government could be changed. Is this good or bad? That’s not an easy answer but it reinforces the vital necessity of watching over local government and being involved and participating in the process of government. And, it points out that open and frank discussion should take place so that we fully understand the proposal and take action in the communities best interest as well as our own best interest.

The complete proposal is available in pdf format by clicking here. If you wish a hard copy, just contact me at 428-2529. In my opinion, this should be required reading for all residents of Vanderburgh County and the City of Evansville.

The next step for the Unification Committee is to evaluate the input from the recent public meetings and, perhaps, revise the proposal. At that point an extensive educational program about the proposal will begin.

Although not specifically to discuss Unification, the County Commissioners are holding 3 separate public meetings later this year as follows:

District 1 (Commissioner Nix) - Monday, August 15th, 7:30 pm at the NE Park Baptist Church (1215 N Boeke Road),

District 2 (Commissioner Crouch) - Tuesday, August 30th, 5:30 pm at the 4-H Center,

District 3 (Commissioner Musgrave) - Tuesday, November 29th, 3:30 pm at the O'Day Discovery Lodge at Burdette Park.

Although I’m sure discussion of any subject is welcome, Unification will be one of the subjects. I encourage everyone to attend and express your thoughts to your local leaders.
 

June 17, 2005 - INVITATION TO ALL CITIZENS OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY AND THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.

The Evansville City County Unification Study Committee (ECCUSC) will be holding two public meetings next week to gather input from all citizens concerning our most recent proposal and then a final recommendation will be released next month in July.

The preamble, below, briefly explains the scope and work of the committee's findings with a recommendation in a very short summary document. A more detailed document will be available at the public meetings next week or can be reviewed at www.citycountystudy.com.

Meeting Dates:

• June 21st, Tuesday at Vanderburgh 4-H Center from 7pm to 9pm.
• June 23rd, Thursday at the Centre in Evansville from 7pm to 9pm.

Any person may sign up when entering the meetings for an opportunity to address the City County Study Panel for 5 minutes.

The Evansville City County Unification Study Committee members want to encourage the citizens of the entire county to attend and give their input. The committee hopes and desires that citizens will learn and offer input before a public referendum could be requested. With a referendum being approved, citizens will be permitted to vote and decide to unify city and county government and provide a more responsive local government.

Public meetings will be held

The City/County Unification Study Group continues its’ effort in studying and proposing a plan for unification of Evansville and Vanderburgh County. The group is wrapping up interviews of elected officials for the purpose of receiving suggestions for potential change to the current unification proposal. All comments from the elected officials will be considered with a revised proposal ultimately being put together based on consideration of those comments and further evaluation. After the revised proposal is completed, additional public hearings are to be held, most likely during May and June. We’ll make sure you are notified of those dates when they are established.

The remainder of the process is to include an educational campaign during August while legislation is being prepared to authorize a binding referendum on the proposed merger. Considerable lobbying will take place from December 2005 through March 2006 seeking support and passage of this legislation. During April 2006 efforts to educate the public regarding details of the proposed merger will intensify. If the legislation is approved in a timely fashion, the referendum seeking approval for unification will take place in November 2006. If approved, the primarily election for new metro officials will take place in May, 2007 with the general election to take place in November, 2007. Inauguration of the new metro government would occur on January 1, 2008.

At this point, many of those interviewed have expressed strong concern about the potential elimination of the city clerk and assigning poor relief to other than township trustees. Both of these areas will be further reviewed. Many felt there would be little cost savings and that is most likely true since the city and county already have many combined functions. However, from nearly the beginning, the group has felt that unified leadership as well as better and more efficient economic development would be the primary impetus driving the need for unification.  update 4/6/05
 

The following summary was prepared by WIA president Fred Padget.  Click the links below for more detailed information.

        Complete proposal        Talking Points           Timeline              

The Evansville/Vanderburgh County Unification Study Committee has developed and published a draft proposal for Unification. Following is a short summary of the proposal:

• Current city and county councils would be replaced with a metro council of 13 members with 10 elected from districts, 3 elected at-large.
• The city mayor and the commissioners would be replaced with a metro mayor with executive powers similar to the present mayor, but with the authority to appoint a deputy mayor and with line item veto powers over the budget.
• The new council and mayor would have the power to reorganize any aspect of local government within the limits of the state constitution.
• The proposal would create separate classes of taxing districts based on specific services received in those districts after unification. The council and mayor would have the power to extend services and commensurate taxes on an incremental basis.
• County offices would remain essentially unchanged. They would relate to the new metro council and mayor in the same way they now relate to the county council and the commissioners. The committee has recommended that the County Auditor assume the duties of the City Clerk and that that position be eliminated.
• Darmstadt would remain independent relating to the new metro government as it does to the current county government.

The study group has identified several benefits for Unification and includes the following:

• In 2003, The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute completed a comprehensive study of the impact of unified governments in several cities. These included Miami-Dade, Florida; Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee; Jacksonville-Duval, Florida; Indianapolis-Marion, Indiana; Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky; and Louisville-Jefferson, Kentucky. This study concluded, “All of the consolidated communities have done better economically than they were doing before their consolidation.” The study did point out that other factors might have been responsible for this. The effects on taxation were mixed. Those that consolidated the most functions, such as Nashville and Lexington, did have lower inflation-adjusted property taxes after unification than those cities that did partial unification, such as Indianapolis.
• Unity in leadership can provide stronger, more focused efforts toward economic development. Faster economic growth will increase the tax base and create more job opportunities for the young people of our community.
• The metro council and mayor would have greater powers to find ways to reduce costs through reorganization. They would have the power to extend services on an incremental basis rather than the cumbersome all-or-nothing method of annexation.
• Unification of government would reduce the number of office holders and reduce overlapping and duplicate efforts.
• Unification with a single council offers opportunities to save money and better control taxes, the budget, capital projects, private contract, personnel procedures, and health care costs.
• The creation of different taxing districts based on services provided will make for fairer taxation.
• It will give all the residents of Vanderburgh County representation on all matters of local government that affect them. This includes, as examples, water and sewer fees and expenditures for the parks system.
• The unified council districts will be smaller than current county or city council districts offering representation that will be more attentive to local concerns. (The proposed unified council would have districts of approximately 17,000 residents. Current city council districts now have approximately 20,000 residents, and county council districts have over 40,000 residents.)
• County residents who work and shop in the city or use services offered in the city are affected by decision made within municipal government. Unification will give all citizens of Vanderburgh County a voice in those decisions.

At this point, the group is meeting with both local and state elected officials to get their input concerning the proposal. Sometime during April and May, or thereabouts, the group will hold additional public meetings on the specific proposal. Following those meetings, the proposal would be further refined. Then legislation would be developed to authorize a binding referendum on the proposal and an extensive public education effort will take place. If all goes as planned, a local referendum would be held during November 2006 with election of new Metro Officials during the General Election in November 2007.
There are many influences that can delay the plan but we’ll do our best to keep you informed of this major public decision.
 

Fred Padget

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