A local trustee wants St. Joseph County’s townships to look at consolidation, before Indiana does it for them.
Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow’s proposal could reduce the number of townships in the county from 13 down to two or three. He says that could improve efficiency and strengthen services.
"A lot of townships are facing property tax cuts and budget cuts because of what’s going on downstate," Critchlow explained. "Meanwhile, fire and EMS protection is becoming more expensive and more difficult, as far as expectations go, to meet and provide for residents."
A new state law sets up a scoring system for township performance. Those that score poorly would be forced to merge with other townships or, in some cases, cities.
But Critchlow says there’s a system in place to do that voluntarily. "The difference is, if you do a voluntary merger, you get a lot more say in what that merger looks like, what that new form of government looks like," Critchlow said. "If you are somebody who is forced to merge, you don’t get to make a lot of decisions on what that forced merger looks like."
Critchlow discussed the idea with area leaders during St. Joseph County’s Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce meeting Thursday. He says it’s in their best interest to start looking at a full consolidation plan now.
“I have the fear that this is one of those things that a lot of townships are not going to be proactive about, and I’m trying to encourage them to be proactive,” Critchlow said.
He says his proposal is just meant to start a conversation, not to be a final plan. Critchlow says any proposal would require “significant study, analysis, public input, and financial review,” before formal action is taken.
