Committee advances Cumberland excluded-city proposal; motion to recommit sent to tax and fiscal, vote 8-0

The Senate Local Government Committee unanimously (8-0) moved to recommit legislation concerning the town of Cumberland so that the bill can be considered by the Tax and Fiscal Committee.

Representative Miller (House sponsor) and Senator Bridal (Senate sponsor) described the bill as a narrowly tailored effort to make the Marion County portion of the town of Cumberland an “excluded city” under UNIGOV. They told the committee Cumberland has grown from roughly 500 residents in 1970 to more than 6,500 today and provides many municipal services already; the change would allow the town to adopt its own zoning and permitting for the Marion County portion rather than requiring residents to go to Downtown Indianapolis for those services.

Benjamin (Ben) Lipps, Cumberland town manager, and Erica Salman, the town clerk-treasurer, said the town already operates public works, police, code enforcement and planning services on the Hancock County side and maintains many of the same services in the Marion County portion. Lipps told the committee the town has agreed to coordinate debt-service arrangements with Indianapolis related to an existing fire district bond and that he does not expect a net tax increase for Cumberland residents because many of the services the town already funds would move under town administration.

Rhonda Cook of Legis Group Public Affairs testified the Hancock County commissioners support the effort; Cumberland managers said they had coordinated with the city of Indianapolis and Hancock County and described the process as collaborative and narrowly focused on Cumberland.

Senators asked questions about which parts of the town the bill addresses, how zoning conflicts with the city of Indianapolis would be resolved and whether the change could affect existing debt or levies. Representatives said the bill includes a mechanism for the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) to adjust levies and rates so the transition can be handled administratively. The committee voted to recommit the bill to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Committee by voice motion and roll call; the roll call recorded eight ayes and no nays.

The committee's roll-call names recorded in the transcript as voting yes included: Senator Yoder; Senator Taylor; Senator Niemeyer; Senator Bohachuk; Senator Durnell; Senator Schmidt; Senator Toms; and one additional senator recorded as present. The motion to recommit passed 8–0.