Candidates for township offices in this year’s ballot say their level of government is vital to providing assistance to needy residents and being a first point of contact for people reaching out to elected officials.
Townships offer assistance to residents in need of help with rent or utilities, take care of local cemeteries and can be a conduit for residents looking for information or assistance from the county government, White River Township Trustee Mark Messick said.
Messick won the Republican nomination for re-election as trustee in the primary race, receiving 56 percent of the vote. His opponent, Greg Rainbolt, a member of the White River Township Advisory Board, received 44 percent of the vote.
“I’m humbled that voters felt I had done my job and want me to continue to be the trustee,” Messick said.
Messick’s re-election bid was one of four contested township races in this year’s primary election. Voters also selected their party’s nominee for advisory boards in Pleasant Township, Union Township and White River Township.
Johnson County has nine townships, which each have township advisory boards and trustees. Those elected officials are in charge of setting the tax rate and the budget for townships. Under state law, township government is responsible for providing poor relief to residents, including paying rent or utility bills and helping with burial expenses, and caring for and maintaining local cemeteries.
Whether township government is needed has also been a topic of discussion for years at the statehouse.
In 2008, property tax reform passed by state lawmakers got rid of seven of the county’s nine township assessors, who were in charge of overseeing the assessment of properties in their township for tax purposes, and those duties were transferred to the county. Then, voters in Pleasant and White River townships were asked whether assessor positions should be kept, and residents voted to eliminate both positions and transfer those duties to the county as well.
With about 1,000 township governments across Indiana, state officials have since discussed whether any form of township government is still needed, or if those tasks could be handled by the county.
Messick said he agreed that consolidation could be useful in some cases, but townships need to exist in some form because of the local connection they have with residents, he said. For example, this year the township has about $35,000 budgeted to give to residents in need of assistance with rent or utilities, he said.
Johnson County has nine townships, and Messick said he could see that being reduced to as few as four. But he believes the best people to make that decision would be the county commissioners, who state lawmakers could give authority to determine the number and boundaries of townships within their own counties, he said.
“I believe in local government,” Messick said. “Local government should decide if we have too many townships or not enough.”
Dave Pollard, a member of the White River Township Advisory Board who was one of three candidates to earn the Republican nomination for the position, said that having local township offices gives residents easy access to government officials rather than requiring them to drive to Franklin.
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White River Township Trustee
Mark W. Messick (R);2,506
Greg Rainbolt (R);1,989
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White River Township Board
Top three vote getters are nominated
Larry G. Davis (R);1,892
Dick Huber (R);2,086
David S. Pollard (R);2,339
Michael G. Wycoff (R);1,663
Margaret M. (Peggy) Young (R);2,953
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Union Township Board
Top three vote getters are nominated
Norma Deer (R);234
Jessica L. Legan (R);247
Tracy Mabry (R);207
Steve Miller (R);286
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Pleasant Township Board
Top three vote getters are nominated
John Asher (R);2,402
Jerry Napier (R);2,632
Britton (Big Sarge ) Shoellhorn (R);1,731
Thomas L. Whitaker (R);2,554
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