Michigan City council adopts resolution opposing bill to reclassify city from second to third class

The Michigan City Common Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to adopt a resolution opposing any 2025 state legislative effort that would reduce Michigan City's status from a second-class city to a third-class city.

The resolution says the council opposes Senate Bill 436 and similar measures because the change could harm the city's administrative capacity, reduce representation and create economic and procedural costs. Council members cited recent and anticipated private development projects as reasons the city should retain second-class status.

Why it matters: The resolution frames the issue as more than semantics. Council members and the mayor told state officials they want the city to keep the governance structure that supports an elected clerk and a city controller and that allows the city to maintain a sanitary department under current Indiana law. The resolution notes that moving to a third-class status would replace the existing city controller/clerk arrangement with a clerk-treasurer system and could shift financial duties to an elected clerk without specialized fiscal training.

At the meeting Councilman Dabney read the resolution aloud and the council discussed specifics the document lists as harms from the proposed legislation, including: potential loss of administrative efficiency; reduced legislative representation; a perceived negative signal to investors; legal and logistical costs tied to restructuring; and a statutory limitation that would affect the city's sanitary department.

The resolution also lists local development projects the council said support retaining second-class status, naming Franklin Tower (222 residential units), Solo (900 condominiums and a 60-room hotel), the Fifth Street project (500 residential units and a grocery store), Helix 303 (275 units), a proposed workforce housing TIF (160 units), and several other planned developments and private capital investments cited by council members. The resolution states the city has seen more than $100 million in private capital investment in the last three years and more than $3 billion in capital investments over the past six years, as presented during the reading.

The council directed the city clerk to forward the resolution to state legislators named in the text and to regional bodies including the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission and the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation.

Mayor Angie, who earlier in the meeting updated the council on several bills under consideration at the State House, told the council she personally briefed the state comptroller and legislators about Michigan City's budget adjustments and the city's need for full recovery of gaming-related funds, and that she planned additional appearances in Indianapolis while the bills are active.

The vote: The motion to adopt the resolution passed 6-0, recorded as "Aye" from the council members on the dais. The resolution passed after a public comment period that included one resident who voiced support for the city's status.

The council said it will continue monitoring related legislation and report any amendments that arise in the coming weeks.