Indiana House committee endorses township consolidation plan

INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA CAPTITAL CHRONICLE) — Legislators might have coalesced around a plan for consolidating perhaps hundreds of Indiana’s 1,000+ township governments.

An Indiana House committee on Tuesday endorsed a melding of differing Senate and House bills that supporters said will improve local government efficiency.

The new version of Senate Bill 270 would require townships with low performance evaluations to merge with other townships. The plan would also let city governments take over the township functions when the township is located mostly within the city limits.

Townships taking steps toward mergers under current state law by June 30, 2027, would be exempt from the proposed new procedure that would then begin. It would start the process for mergers taking effect Jan. 1, 2029 — a year later than previously proposed.

Bill author Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, said the delay would give townships facing required consolidations time to make their own merger decisions.

“They can do local meetings back...