Longtime township trustee urges colleagues to chart their own course ahead of merger deadline

By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

ATWOOD — There are more than 1,000 townships in Indiana and nearly all of them will face tough decisions next year under a mandatory merger plan outlined by state lawmakers.

A new state law will require smaller, ineffective townships to merge, based on a study that has yet to be certified.

Several hundred townships will likely be forced to merge while many will consider joining others as a massive shift begins next year.

Many officials are already looking at their options.

Julia Goon, who has served as the Prairie Township Trustee for 45 years — and has been a staunch supporter of the existing system — predicts only one of the existing 17 townships in Kosciusko County will be required to merge.

But she’s also encouraging others to consider merging with others that already share common borders.

Township trustees will have a chance to craft their own merger proposals before July 1, but after that, decisions will be left to the county commissioners in each county, Goon said.

Goon was a guest on In the Know, the public affairs show you can hear this weekend on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.

Hundreds of township employees will be affected. Many will lose their titles and/or jobs and an immense amount of paperwork will have to be updated.

The overall goal is to reduce redundancies and save some money. Goon admits there will be some savings as a result, but its unclear how much that could be.

Also hanging in the balance are decisions on which trustees will assume the role of overseeing the much larger jurisdictions.

Goon has developed numerous hypothetical merger scenarios, which she’s shared with other trustees in the county.

All of the mergers will combine townships along existing geographical boundaries.

Regardless of how that is done, volunteer fire departments will not be affected, Good said.

Goon was asked if the potential of having decisions made by the county commissioners will serve as an incentive for townships to take the lead in developing their own plan.

“I do, because I think most townships want to do it on their own and not have the state or the county commissioners tell us who’s going to merge,” Goon said. “You know, I think we’re smart enough to do this on our own.”

The local township association will host a meeting in late September featuring Jeff Bellamy, an expert on voluntary mergers. Other county leaders are also invited to attend.

All township employees are being urged to participate.

All mandated state-directed or local-transitioned township consolidations must take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2029. 

On a separate issue, Goon reports Prairie Township has been working to reopen the old dormant Clunette Cemetery.

“We have been working for the last 20 years, cleaning up, restoring monuments —  It’s quite costly,” Goon said. “And we are about ready to open up Clunet Cemetery for burials again. We’re really excited about that.”

“We’re going to have about 200 graves to sell,” she said.

Below is a list of broadcast times for In The Know.